Pнσεηιx
by Fruitloop-1
Summary: Momoko should have known better when everything started to go wrong. The murders, the warnings, and now this… She is dealing with an old enemy who can't seem to let go of the past, and the past might just kill the both of them.
1. Part I

**•«Phoenix»•**

* * *

_"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."_

_~ Terry Pratchett_

* * *

******«**PART I»

* * *

—•— **Saturday, 16 November (2:35am) —•—**

* * *

There were a lot of things that were red. Roses were red. Raspberries were red. Even the beautiful iridescence of rubies were red. But what this person found the most fascinating of all was the deep scarlet of blood.

Lifting a right hand into the ray of moonlight that shone through the window, trails of the crimson substance dripped from the blade and across the fingers, the palm of the hand, and then over the wrist and down the arm, staining the once clean white shirt. The person watched the dark liquid for a moment longer and caught the familiar scent of metal.

Carmine eyes flickered to the body lying on the floor.

"It's a shame, really," the person muttered, slowly standing up. "After all, you're just an innocent." A pause. "Or are you? How would I know? I've never met you in my life."

The body didn't respond. It's only sign of life was now pooling in a puddle of red around it.

Slowly circling around, "It's nothing personal, of course," the person continued. "I'm quite sure that you were a wonderful girl. I saw your exam grades framed on the wall — a scholar, hm?" Still no response. "Thought so. I really wouldn't have went through all that trouble. I really wouldn't have. It's just that… Well, I can't indulge in secrets, can I?"

The person's gaze fell on the dead girl's hair. It was long and spread around her like the wings of a Phoenix. The important part? It was auburn.

"You know, the funny thing is, you remind me a bit of… Well… It might seem insignificant to you, but it means so much more to me. I couldn't — I just couldn't — allow you to keep living. Quite silly, really, but it brings back so many unfortunate memories."

The person stopped circling and knelt down towards her face which was open in a frozen scream. A scream that was cut off too early. A scream that would no longer be heard. Fingers trailed tentatively across her right cheek. It was cold.

"I couldn't bear it. I had to get rid of you. You look too much like her. Too similar, too inseparable." The person flicked a lighter switch and a tiny flame flickered. "Now there will be no comparison."

Holding the lighter to her hair, the auburn strands erupted into flames. The person pulled away and put the lighter back into their pocket, watching with morbid fascination as the fire spread from the ends of her hair towards her body like a wildfire. And like a wildfire it grew. The flames danced and hot ash floated around. The once dark room was now set ablaze in a golden glow, and the smell of burning flesh encased the room like thick smoke.

A sneer and then the person backed away and escaped through the windows, leaving the apartment to burn in flames.

* * *

—•— **Sunday, 17 November (10:24am) —•—**

* * *

"Jesus Christ," muttered Kaoru when she saw the mess. Or, at least, what was left of the mess.

"I know this isn't really the way you were planning on spending your weekend, girls," said Professor Utonium as he stepped over burnt debris, "but this is incredibly important."

"What happened here?" asked Momoko, already getting down to business.

"Peach detected a black aura here last night."

"Why didn't you call us?"

He sighed. "The fire department, the medics and the police were here last night. They've been here for hours until this morning. Even the Powerpuff Girls Z are not above the law—"

"Despite saving this city's ass," grumbled Kaoru under her breath.

"—and so it was out of the question to bring you three to the crime scene. After all, it seemed like a normal case. Nothing extraordinary about it at all. But Peach is sure of detecting something here. It was extremely difficult to get permission to even come in here today, but the mayor managed to persuade the police force to let us in. Make good use of this time, girls. We might not get another chance."

"Summary?" asked Momoko.

"I only got a brief report: a young woman. Just passed through senior high school and was going to start university next week after a work placement. The medics and the police aren't releasing any confidential information about her yet to keep the press at bay and to give her parents some time to...compose themselves."

"That's alright. But is there any other information on her?"

"Her parents confirmed her appearance. Although…after the fire, she was hardly recognisable."

"I feel sorry for her mum and dad," said Miyako, folding her arms; a sympathetic expression on her face. "To find their daughter dead by being burnt in a fire. No one deserves to die like that."

"I agree. But the thing is, I don't think this is just any ordinary fire incident."

Kaoru frowned. "Well, you did mention that there was a black aura here last night. Black particles were able to cause the fire?"

"Not exactly, Kaoru," said Professor Utonium. "I think someone — a villain — was here last night and murdered the girl. If the villain inflicted any wounds in the girl before they set the place on fire, I wouldn't know. Her body was...almost a blackened corpse when the firefighters hosed the fire out and the paramedics finally got to her. So there is no other obviously visible damage that we can see. Although I have information that an autopsy might be performed next week if her parents are willing. But I have a feeling they won't want to and just give her a proper burial."

"What was so important about her that made her a target of the villains?" asked Momoko, genuinely curious.

"I don't know," he quietly admitted. "I'm hoping when we get access to any confidential information about her that we'll be able to draw connections."

"Any relations? Anyone who might hate her? Was she generally likeable?"

"Like I said, any personal and confidential information isn't being released. But I did do my own bit of snooping around the police and overheard that she was a nice and friendly person and that she was loved by everyone in school and in general. The fact that someone would hate her so much as to kill her… Seems highly unlikely, really. But as I said, it's impossible to tell now without proper information."

Miyako asked another question and the professor continued to answer, but Momoko moved away from the three and towards what she assumed was the bedroom of this apartment. Blackened debris covered the place and the woodwork of the archway was half-broken and lingered menacingly. The wallpaper of what used to be a beautiful shade of red was now peeling off.

She paused.

The fire must have done more than kill the girl. It practically scorched most of the apartment into a mess.

Asbestos dangled through the gaps off the cracked ceiling and fibreglass foam scattered across the floor of the bedroom. She could still see particles of fibreglass drifting through the air and she quickly slipped the ribbon from her hair and tied it around her mouth. If she breathed that shit into her lungs, she'd be dead.

Momoko slowly took a step forward and looked around. Everything in the bedroom seemed normal enough. Well, normal for a bedroom that had been half-destroyed by a fire. But the bed was still intact, surprisingly enough, though its black metal poles were melted and twisted and the mattress was a goner.

_What the hell happened here?_ She frowned. _Who would do this?_

She walked towards the dresser and opened the drawers, checking them one by one. But she doubted she would find anything useful; the police had already checked the apartment, and surely they wouldn't leave the dresser alone. The dresser was the only thing in the bedroom that hadn't been touched by the fire because it was in the far corner. This meant that no one could accidentally miss checking the large mahogany structure.

Still, it was always a good idea to be doubly sure.

But her search resulted in nothing.

She sighed. _What am I supposed to do now?_ She glanced around. _Everything else in the bedroom is destroyed, and the living area is in worse condition. _Finding clues in these ruins was like finding Hephaestus in his workshop — not impossible; but incredibly difficult.

Momoko's gaze flickered back to the dresser. On top, there were photo frames. She felt excited for a moment, thinking that she'd finally found something to tell her what the girl had looked like and, perhaps, get closer to what had happened last night.

But no. They were just nature photographs — trees, flowers, landscapes and the like.

_Was she an avid photographer? _Momoko wondered. _If she was, then she must've been very good._

Momoko noticed the perfect details of the photographs: how the focus wasn't always directed in the middle but sometimes to certain areas which you wouldn't normally notice until someone pointed it out. And the effect worked wonderfully.

One of the photographs caught her eye and she gently picked up the frame. Under normal circumstances, she probably would've missed it, if it had not been for the fact that just a few minutes ago they'd been talking about the subject in the photograph.

The photograph presented flames. Golden, burning flames that withered and twisted. It shouldn't have been beautiful. But it was.

She regarded it with a curious look for a moment before gently brushing her fingers over it. She hadn't expected the photograph to suddenly displace itself from the frame and flutter to the floor. She was about to kneel down to pick it up when she noticed the piece of paper stuck to the back of the photo frame where the photograph of the fire had originally been.

_What the…_

Ignoring the fallen photograph, Momoko unfolded the paper to reveal a note. She frowned as she read it.

_What the hell?_

* * *

—•— **Monday, 25 November (5:39pm) —•—**

* * *

_"…and it seems like our perpetrator has continued. The police are still undergoing an investigation, calling in forensics to examine the crime scenes. We only hope that these recent murders will—"_

"You're going to become depressed if you keep listening to that," said Sakurako as she wrapped one of the sweet boxes in coloured parchment paper and tied it with a ribbon at the top.

Momoko gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry. But these murders have been all over the news lately," she said as she turned off the radio which was sitting on the shop's counter.

At the age of seventeen, Momoko had managed to find a job at the quiet and serene sweet shop that her kind acquaintance, Sakurako, owned. Still staying true to her love of treats due to her sweet tooth, she enjoyed working here. There was something peaceful and happy about how people came in and bought chocolates either to take out for their sweethearts or to sit in and eat as a fun treat.

She couldn't see why, even after the drama with the Sedusa incident, Sakurako still wanted to work in such a small confectionary shop. She had the opportunity to go anywhere with her boyfriend, Souichiro, who came to help out in the shop over the weekends. But, even so, she stayed.

Momoko assumed it was probably attachment. After all, Sakurako's parents had once owned this shop. Letting the shop go would be like letting go of her past…

"With all due respect, Momoko," said Sakurako, "I'm surprised that you're not worried."

"About what?"

Sakurako gave a shy smile. "I don't mean to be so forward, but the news recently announced that what the victims all had in common were that they were female and had long auburn hair. And, well…" she trailed off and gestured to her employee's hair. Sakurako suddenly squinted her eyes and regarded Momoko suspiciously. "Have you been getting enough sleep, recently?"

"Of course I have."

They both knew she was lying. Sakurako put her hands on her hips. "Momoko, be honest. When did you go to sleep last night?"

She reluctantly answered, "Two in the morning."

Sakurako glared at her. "And you woke up at six, didn't you?" She didn't need a confirmed answer. "Momoko! You can't have only four hours of sleep every night! That's not healthy! Eight hours. At least _eight_ hours of sleep is required for a healthy and energetic day. I mean, look at you! Have you noticed the shadows under your eyes? You look pale and exhausted. Honestly, Momoko. Sometimes I think that you're trying to tire yourself out."

Momoko smiled ever so slightly. Sakurako was only five years older than her but practically acted like a mother every chance she got. Not that Momoko complained. It was a nice change from the lack of attention she got at home because of her younger sister.

Right. Kuriko.

She didn't hate her little sister, per se. She just wasn't too fond of her. The girl had been cheeky enough when she was younger, but that had been bearable. Now, she had grown into a more mischievous young teenager with an attitude and the personality to steal any limelight from Momoko when given the chance.

Okay, so perhaps there was a tiny bit of hate in there. But Momoko wasn't out to ruin her sister's life; at least, not the way Kuriko was. Momoko just simply couldn't be bothered with her.

"What do you even do when you're not working here?" asked Sakurako.

_Going to school, doing my homework, revising for my winter exams, leading a double life as a superheroine, washing the dishes, cleaning my room, working here in this shop, leading a double life as a superheroine, avoiding my sister, solving preternatural murders, lying to my parents, leading a double life as a superheroine…_

"Nothing much," Momoko finally replied.

"Then why don't you use your spare time to actually sleep?"

Momoko simply smiled in reply. Sakurako took that as her cue to drop the subject, knowing that she wouldn't get anywhere with it.

"Just please remember that your health comes first."

"Will do."

"Good. Now, help me out here. I've got an order for a box set of two strawberry crèmes, four truffles, two caramels, and four hazelnuts."

"Size?"

"Small. It's a homecoming a gift for a young daughter."

"Aw! How sweet!"

Sakurako smiled widely. "It is. And the father will be here soon to pick the set up."

* * *

—•— **Monday, 25 November (11:36pm) —•—**

* * *

Remembering Sakurako's words, Momoko decided to set aside her study material and go to sleep a little earlier. After all, she had school, didn't she?

She sat on her bed, already washed and changed into her long pink sleeve and brown shorts. But before she went to sleep, she opened the top drawer of her bedside table. Inside it was a piece of paper. The exact same paper that she'd found two weeks ago at the fire incident.

She had been about to tell the Professor and her friends about her important discovery, but something had held her back at the time. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but in the end she never told them and the note was left as a secret from them.

She felt slightly guilty. Here she was, possibly holding an important clue that even the police had yet to discover. She had no permission to take anything from the crime scene, and yet she had. Without anyone's knowledge.

And she still hadn't told anyone.

She could hand in the note now to the Professor, but then she'd have to deal with the enquiries of why she held out on this information so long. She could also have given it to the police, but then she could be suspected in the murder case for altering the crime scene.

No, there were too many things to deal with. She would simply have to keep this information to herself.

If it even was information.

The paper only presented words and numbers. _Misakimachi Street 101-0065._

"Misakimachi Street?" she read aloud.

Was this an address? And, if so, why? Why was this address written onto a piece of paper? And why was it hidden?

Momoko sighed. Perhaps she was looking into this way too much. Perhaps the girl had just written down the address at some point and decided to put it behind the photograph. Perhaps she hadn't wanted anyone to find it. There was a list of possibilities.

Finally, Momoko put the note back into the drawer and turned off the bedside lamp, getting into bed and pulling the duvet cover over her head. After a couple of minutes, she fell asleep.

* * *

—•— **Tuesday, 26 November (9:10am) —•—**

* * *

Momoko had no desire to follow her mother's orders of driving Kuriko to school this morning. But as long as she was living under the very same roof as the rest of her family, she had no say.

"You're lucky I'm a nice person or else I would've left your ass at the petrol station by now," she had muttered.

Kuriko raised an eyebrow. "No you wouldn't. Or else I would've phoned mum and you'd be in trouble."

"Don't test me," replied Momoko, pressing down onto the accelerator, hoping to drop Kuriko off to the school as quickly as possible.

When she turned the corner and reached the junior high school, she had finally relaxed from her tense stature and shooed Kuriko out of the car.

And now here she was, in her own school assembly hall. There was a road safety talk today and Momoko felt like she had the word 'guilty' written on her forehead for speeding up on the road this morning, despite having only gotten her driver's license just a few months ago.

A police officer got up onto the stage as the students in the assembly hall quietened down. A PowerPoint slide was projected onto a large screen at the front as the lights were turned down.

A small prelude was given by the headmaster, introducing the officer. Then the officer began the talk by saying, "There will be graphic images within this presentation. If any of you feel uncomfortable at any time, please do not hesitate to leave this presentation and talk to the nurse. I hope it won't come to that."

And then the blank screen in the dark changed to a video. It showed the scene of a motorway as cars sped across the road at the normal speed. Except for one car which seemed to be switching lanes regularly, almost as if for fun.

Momoko could already sense the danger of what was to come before it even happened.

Suddenly, the funny car in the video managed to whack itself against another car, and — surprisingly — it went straight off the edge of the motorway and flew over the railings, falling down the cliff's edge of where the motorway was situated. And then, a fiery explosion erupted onto the screen and there was smoke.

The officer then said, "Do you know what happened to the driver?"

The students in the assembly hall shook their heads, their full attention given.

The officer rewinded the video. Back to where the car had just flown over the railings and off the edge of the cliff. And then he paused it. He brought out a long stick and pointed it at the screen. No, not at the screen. At a…

There was a collection of gasps from the audience.

It was a body. The video may have been paused, but it was clear to see that the body of the reckless driver was spinning and twisting violently through the air as it was thrust out of the car. So violently, in fact, that one of the driver's arms had tore right out.

Momoko knew there was no way that the driver would be able to survive that.

The officer then said in a grim voice, "Folks, I wish I could say to you that this was a film. That this was fake and casted. But the cold reality is that this is all real. This accident occurred on the Tohoku Motorway on a journey from Tokyo to Aomori two years ago. It was caught on tape by a CCTV camera. Of course, by the time the medics arrived, it was too late. The man was dead by the time we reached him."

He paused.

"Folks, there's a reason why I'm here. There's a reason why I'm standing here talking to you about road safety. You students are probably rolling your eyes at me like you've heard it all before. And you may have. But the fact is, despite your knowledge and understanding, road accidents keep happening nearly everyday in this country. In 2010, we had 4863 deaths from road accidents."

He switched the video to the next slide which showed the statistics.

"In 2011, we had 4612 deaths. In 2012, we had 4490 deaths. And in 2013, as we're approaching the end of the year, we've had 4436 deaths so far. The reason why I'm here talking to you about road safety is because many of you are probably learning how to drive, and some of you may already be driving. Folks, the last thing I want to see is any of you from this school ending up as just another statistic that I'll be telling the next school I visit. I don't want anyone from this school — or anywhere else for that matter — ending up as number 4437."

The students were all silent.

The officer sighed and said, "My job is to attend to a road accident and to note details and record accounts of witnesses and survivors, if any. My job is to find out why such an accident happened and to call in any other authority for responsibility. Years of training and years of my profession would make you think I'm a hard-boiled man and that nothing could drive me to tears."

He paused.

"Well, you're wrong. I go to a road accident, and I immediately know whether someone's died or not. Call it instinct, call it intuition. But when I know that someone's died, I have to be the first one to search for the body. And let me tell you right now that searching for a mutilated corpse and not knowing what state the person is in and hoping that they're alive even though you know they're not, is the most difficult and heartbreaking moment of my job."

He closed his eyes for a second, as though already remembering the faces of those who were no longer here. Momoko seemed to be caught into the moment, just as the other students were. Not a single student was laughing or mocking or even plain bored. Everyone was listening. Everyone was attentive.

The officer finally opened his eyes. "There is one accident that really stuck in my mind, even to this day. It was a road accident I attended to three years ago. I arrived to the scene and found a red Porsche smashed, scorched from a fire explosion and twisted on the road while a teenage boy was swearing up and down beside it. But he was alright. He was living and breathing. But I smelt it, the blood. I could see the…" He took a deep breath. "I could see the amount of red pooling from under the wreckage of the car, and I knew… I just knew…"

He sighed.

"I looked under the scrap and found the body of a teenage girl. She was burnt. Badly. And I just knew she was the girlfriend of the boy who was panic-stricken. I took accounts from him. He had only just gotten his license and was taking his girlfriend out for a stroll out on the road. Had a drink too many, and while his girlfriend had been sober, she had been the one to pay the price. Folks, I'm sure you've never experienced this, and I sure as hell hope you never do. But that day, I had to knock on a door at midnight and say to a loving father that his little princess wasn't coming back home. Ever."

Momoko could see the emotion in his eyes.

"That girl had done well enough in her exams that she was given the chance to become an applicant for the University of Todai. She had high hopes and high dreams to get a doctorate in medicine. She had friends and had a whole future ahead of her. One mistake, folks. That's all it takes. One mistake and your life is gone, just like that."

And at the moment, Momoko knew she agreed with him. However, she didn't know that she would be a victim of her own in the near future. Because if she had, she would've avoided it long ago.

But like all things, you couldn't avoid danger until you came face-to-face with it.

_One mistake._

* * *

**—•— Tuesday, 26 November (4:13pm) —•—**

* * *

After school, Momoko sat in her car in front of an old familiar house. She'd turned the engine off ages ago. Now she was debating whether she should go inside or not.

_Fight or flight? _she wondered.

She stared at the paper in her hand. Then she glanced back at the house where the street name was presented clearly in capital letters.

"Misakimachi Street," she muttered. "House number 101-0065."

She knew this place. She'd been here before, back in her much younger and naïve years as a small teenager and a new superheroine. But that was four years ago. There hadn't been any trouble coming from this house in years. She was surprised. Why was this address leading her here?

And, more importantly, did she want to go in?

She had spent her entire school day debating whether or not to search for the house referred to in the address. Finally, right after the bell had rung, she'd sucked up the courage to hunt it down. And now she was sitting here, wondering if to turn back.

_I've made it this far…_

It was strange, really. She hadn't expected to be led here of all places. The dark house looked the same as always. Windows smashed, curtains drawn, a wooden front door half-beaten down, the middle of the roof bearing a gaping hole like something had crashed into it many times.

_Or someone,_ she added wryly, reminiscing the past.

A few minutes passed and she finally sighed. _Well, it's now or never._

She opened the car door and pushed herself out before walking up to the door of the house. Her hand hovered and she hesitated.

_Fight or flight?_

She could either stay here and continue with the investigation, or she could turn back and live on with her normal life.

When she decided to press that doorbell, she had no idea what a mistake she was making.

_Ding-dong._

She stepped back from the door when she heard the sound resonate throughout the old and not-quite-abandoned house. At least, she hoped it wasn't abandoned. She doubted that her former enemy would leave his home.

A few seconds later, the badly-beaten door creaked open and she realised she hadn't prepared what to say.

"Uh, hey there, Mojo," she greeted weakly.

He stared at her through dull eyes before muttering, "I hate charities so don't think I'm giving any money. Now, go away, little kid."

He was about to shut the door but Momoko wedged her foot in between, stopping the action. "Actually, I don't want anything from you. I just want to talk to you."

He opened the door slightly and sighed. "I'm out of the crime business. Go talk to someone else, you're wasting your time."

Momoko only just realised what seemed so different about him from before. He didn't add 'mojo' to any of his sentences anymore. That, and he seemed hairier than usual…

She shook her head. "No, it's not that. Look, can I come in?"

He regarded her suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"A student. I'm doing some research and would like to talk to you." _Well, it's not much of a lie, I _am_ trying to figure something out._

He considered it for a moment before sighing and opening the door properly to let her in. She uttered a 'thank you' but he simply brushed it off and walked on ahead through the hallway.

"Close the door behind you," he mumbled.

She shut it, or at least tried to since it didn't quite fit with the doorframe, but then she realised how dark it was inside the house. How on earth could he see in here? She took a cautious step forward, hoping she was going the right way. Then she suddenly stumbled over something and hit the floor with a loud whack.

"Ow," she grumbled.

"Need me to turn on the lights?"

"Yeah, that would be helpful, thanks," she muttered, not one bit thankful.

The lights weren't as bright as she expected them to be. In fact, they were incredibly dim and the colours she could now see were very dull and didn't help to make the house seem any more welcoming.

She looked down to see what she'd stumbled over and found a framed drawing. The drawing was more of a scribble, and it was obvious that a child had produced it. There was one big purple circle on the left, and then three more smaller messy circles on the right in the colours of red, blue and green.

She frowned. _What's this supposed to be? A bad drawing attempt of a lollipop?_

And why on earth did Mojo have a child's drawing framed? And what was it doing on the ground?

Well, actually, she wasn't too surprised that it was on the ground. Now that the lights were on, she could see that everything in this house was a mess and nearly everything was lying on the ground. Be it large wooden crates, empty water bottles or banana peels (which she carefully avoided).

She finally found him sitting sullenly on a sofa that looked half-chewed with springs protruding from it in odd angles and foam pouring out.

"Sit," he offered.

"Er, no thanks. I think I'll stay standing," she said, backing away from the sofa.

"So what do you want?"

Momoko also realised another thing. He was no longer as animated as he used to be. The life and energy seemed to have been drained from him. Now he was more of an eggshell of what he once was.

"You've heard about the recent murders, haven't you?" she asked, feeling that was the best place to start.

The only reason she could think for the address leading her here to Mojo was that he was most likely involved in the crimes in someway.

He looked up slightly. "Heard about them, yes. Do I really know about them? No."

"Really? I'm surprised. You haven't been involved in the murders in any way, have you?"

He snorted. "Oh, so that's what this is about. There's been serious murders and you automatically think that the former villain is part of it."

"I'm afraid you're wrong."

He shook his head. "No, I'm afraid _you're_ wrong. Look, I've told you, I'm out of the crime business scene. I don't know what the other villains are up to or whether they're conspiring something. And, honestly, I couldn't care less. That's their problem, not mine. My days were numbered when the Powerpuff Girls Z got rid of Him, and I'm not going back to that again."

Momoko sighed. "I don't have anything against you. I really don't. But…people have found your address in one of the crime scenes and we feel that you might be connected."

_If he doesn't know that I'm Blossom, then there's no point in making it obvious._

Mojo was surprised, and it seemed to be the only real emotion he'd shown so far. "What? My address? Why?"

"I'm not sure. That's why I'm here. We think that you—"

"Might be involved?" he finished. "You're wrong. I'm not. I don't even care about the people anymore. They can go on with their happy lives. I'm done."

"That's not what the evidence says."

Mojo scoffed. "You want evidence? Then check with Tokyo's security team. Or, even better, check with the Powerpuff Girls Z. I've hardly been outside of this house ever since I quit. I don't know much about what's really going on out there, and I'd much rather not. But I haven't caused any trouble for four years, so don't think you can pin this murder on me."

She knew it was true. He really hadn't caused any trouble at all for the past four years. And neither had any of the other villains. The Gangreen Gang only messed around for a few weeks after Him's disappearance, but even they lost the motivation to keep going on and so they stopped. It was only the recent murders that had suddenly required the superheroines' attendance, or else they could have safely said that the Powerpuff Girls Z were no more.

She nodded. "No, I believe you. There's just been a lot of speculation about these murders. You're still not off the hook quite yet until we either obtain solid proof that you're not involved, or we catch the real perpetrator. But I think this will do us for now. Thanks for your time."

He grumbled something under his breath and walked through the hallway, gesturing for her to follow. They reached the door and he opened it. But just before Momoko left, she suddenly remembered something and turned back around to point at the framed drawing on the floor.

"What is that?" she asked.

He followed her gaze and suddenly looked pained. "Just a drawing," he said quietly.

There was something in his voice. Something…emotional?

But just as quickly as it happened, Mojo quickly snapped back to his normal self and said, "It's time for you to leave. Bye."

And without waiting for a response, he slammed the door into her face.

A few moments later and she breathed, "Well, that was intriguing." Then she glanced at her watch. "Shit. It's almost time for dinner. I better get home quick."

Without looking back at the house, she stepped inside her car and drove off, not paying attention to the eyes that watched her from afar.

* * *

**—•— Tuesday, 26 November (9:17pm) —•—**

* * *

The woman knew there was something wrong the second she saw the candle's flame flicker suddenly in the dark. She had been preparing and pampering for a night with her lover but now the hair on her neck stood straight and she was fearful of looking behind her.

She scolded herself for being so paranoid. It wasn't like it would be her husband. He was out on a business trip and most likely wouldn't give a damn about her.

That was the reason she was here in this luxury hotel, after all.

If he wouldn't love her, she would find love from someone else.

But even as she dabbed powder onto her soft cheeks, she simply knew that something wasn't right here. The fact that the room was dark and the candle was the only object giving light didn't help either. Not to mention that the window in the room was open…

_No. Stop being so paranoid!_

But she couldn't shake the feeling…

_All you have to do is turn around. That's it. That's all you have to do. Just check behind you. And when you realise that there's nothing there, you can get on with it before he arrives._

But still. She couldn't bear to turn around and—

The coolness of metal touched her bare back.

Her eyes widened and she held her breath, not daring to look into the mirror to meet the intruder's eyes. The pair stood in silence for a moment, neither saying a word or moving in the slightest.

She finally found the ability to squeak out, "W-who are you?"

She gathered the courage to regard the person in the mirror. But it was difficult to make out the figure in the dim light, especially since the person was standing behind her. But she noticed how the lips curved and, in a whisper, said, "How about you and I play a game?"

"I-I'm not interested."

An amused chuckle. "I was referring to hangman."

She looked confused. "Hangman?" Of all the things she had expected this person to do, playing hangman was not one of them.

"Yes. You know how to play. Don't you?"

She hesitated before nodding.

"Good. Start guessing."

* * *

**—•— Wednesday, 27 November (5:23am) —•—**

* * *

Momoko could smell the blood before she saw it. There was something incredibly strong about the smell. It was a pungent metallic scent — sharp and cutting with an underlying sense of death. You just knew. And perhaps that was what made the true difference to people between fake blood and real blood — they both looked the same and could have the same texture, but scent was something else entirely. As was taste.

As she entered the open hotel room, the first thing she noticed were the letters on the wall that greeted her.

_HANGMAN._

The word was painted in red, and the dripping had probably dried overnight. But that didn't stop the word from giving a chilling effect. It seemed…frightening. No, not quite frightening, but haunting.

Then, as she stepped further into the room, she noticed the body of a half-naked woman hanging from the ceiling beside that very wall. There was something carved into the woman's stomach.

_YOU LOSE._

Dry blood was left crusted at the edge of the gaping carved letters. And that's when Momoko realised that the word 'Hangman' on the wall wasn't written in red paint. It was the woman's blood.

Even Kaoru, who stood beside her, looked a little pale. "Now that's just sick," she muttered.

"A twisted game from a twisted mind," mumbled Momoko, swallowing down the bile that threatened to rise up her throat. "Start taking pictures for evidence. Professor said we wouldn't get another chance to come in here. And, besides, the investigation team has yet to arrive. It would be better to take pictures before they get here and move things around. We can check them later with more time."

Kaoru nodded and knelt down with a DSLR camera in her hand.

As the camera flashed multiple times and Kaoru moved around the room, Momoko watched the woman's body that was still hanging suspended in the air. A thick bristly rope was tied around her neck, and her eyes were wide open. The eyeballs had rolled back into her head and Momoko could only make out the whiteness of the sclera. Dried frothy drool tinged with blood trailed from the side of her lips.

Momoko wasn't exactly sure if the woman had died of asphyxia or was carved while she was still alive and then hung. She hoped it was the former but somehow knew that the woman had suffered a lot of pain before being hung.

Another flash dazzled her eyes for a second when she looked Kaoru's way.

"Sorry," said Kaoru.

Momoko shook her head. "No, it's fine. Keep going." She moved out of the way to give Kaoru more space.

"This is really creepy," muttered Kaoru under her breath.

Momoko turned her head and gave a wry smile. "You just noticed?"

"No, I mean this whole massacre thing that's been going on. It's… Well, it's just alarming, don't you think? I mean, the city's been so quiet so far and… Well, suddenly this happens."

Momoko nodded. "I know what you mean. It's a bit too sudden."

"And a bit too suspicious. I mean, what's this guy's game? Why is he only targeting redhead females?"

"The perpetrator could also be a female. There's no evidence of what gender this person is yet. No sex offences, just sick twisted ways of killing."

"Well, the earlier we — or the police — figure it out and catch this bastard, the better. I'm running out of excuses in why I have to go home halfway through a cross country team practise or why I have to get up so early in the mornings and skip breakfast."

Momoko grinned. "Your family notices when you leave the house?"

"Not my family, just my mother. I swear, she probably sleeps wide awake or something," grumbled Kaoru. "I walk across the landing quietly just to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and immediately she pounces on me, accusing me of trying to sneak out for a secret midnight rendezvous."

Momoko chuckled. "I find that hard to believe. You don't strike me as the secret midnight rendezvous type."

Kaoru snorted. "Try telling her that. I'm pretty sure she's an insomniac. Not even a light sleeper. There's just no way someone can catch on to every single muted sound in their sleep. There's just no way."

"Your mum's really nice, you know."

"Oh, I know. But keeping such a big secret from her is hard enough as it is without me lying to her. And you know problematic that is…" she muttered, once again kneeling down to take more photographs.

"Because you're such a bad liar?"

"I'm not that bad…"

Momoko rolled her eyes. "I'm sure. Now, come on. Let's get this over with. We have to go to school soon."

"Oh, which reminds me. What was up with that yesterday?"

Momoko suddenly froze. Had she been caught? Did Kaoru know she went to talk to Mojo Jojo yesterday?

"What do you mean?" she said, keeping her voice calm.

Kaoru turned to face her. "I mean what happened in the assembly hall yesterday? I came in late to school, so I wasn't able to go in."

Momoko inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. And here she thought that she'd been caught out. And then she felt immense guilt for keeping it a secret from Kaoru. The two worked side-by-side each other; and here she was, sleuthing around behind her two friends' backs.

"Oh, just a road safety talk," said Momoko, contemplating in whether she should tell Kaoru the truth about the address or not.

"Was it interesting?"

But then there would be too many questions…

"Yeah, it was pretty graphic. But it was effective and sure got the message across."

Momoko decided not to tell.

* * *

**—•— Saturday, 30 November (10:47am) —•—**

* * *

Sakurako watched Momoko for a minute before finally saying, "Okay, I'll take over. But you deserve a break now, Momoko. You've been working very hard this morning."

Momoko shook her head, still whisking the egg whites in the bowl. "No, no. I'm fine." Then she paused her whisking to yawn.

Sakurako rolled her eyes. "You're tired. Honestly, Momoko. Just take a break for fifteen minutes, I'll finish off the meringues."

"Are you sure? I can handle it myself just fine."

"I'm sure. Go on."

Just then, they heard the shop's bell tinkle as a man walked through the door.

Sakurako smiled. "Hey, Souichiro. Have you come back to help out?"

He grinned. "Of course. Why wouldn't I? It's practically my weekend regime."

"I feel bad for making you work when I'm not even paying you."

He rolled his eyes. "Nonsense. I'm doing this because I want to. And I already have my own job during the weekdays, thank you very much. Besides, you're my girlfriend. What I wouldn't do for you if I could cross the ocean just for you."

"You liar!" she teased. "You got that out of a movie!"

"So? I can't quote the truth?"

She laughed and said, "You're going to have to come up with your own cliché love lines."

He gave a mock bow. "Anything for you, my dear." He stood up and then noticed Momoko who was cleaning her hands at the sink. "Hey, Momoko. And how are you this fine morning?"

Momoko turned and grinned. "Absolutely grand, my kind sir."

"And that positivity is exactly the reason why I keep coming back to this shop."

Sakurako put her hands on her hips in mock offence. "So you don't come back for my confectioneries?"

Souichiro grinned. "Well, your confectioneries are simply delightful, m'lady. But positivity in such a peaceful shop is what really pulls me back."

"How poetic."

"Indeed."

Sakurako was about to say something else when she suddenly noticed that Momoko was still working quietly behind her. "Hey! I told you to take a break!"

Momoko quickly dropped the whisk back into the bowl and stepped away, holding her hands up in defence. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm taking a break, okay?"

Souichiro laughed and said to his girlfriend, "You're too nice of a boss. Momoko needs someone who runs a tight schedule."

"Momoko needs someone who owns a sweet shop," called Momoko from the staff's room.

"Hm, touché."

Sakurako rolled her eyes. "I thought you came here to help out. Not to bother us."

"I don't bother you. I merely make life more entertaining." He paused. "Which reminds me… Momoko, I found a small parcel inside the shop's post box. It has your name on it and the shop's address on it, but no sender details."

Momoko came back from the staff's room looking confused. "What?"

Sakurako raised an eyebrow at Momoko. "It's not a secret admirer, is it?"

Momoko frowned. "No, of course not."

But who would send her a parcel to the shop's address? Why not her own house? And, besides, she hadn't been expecting any deliveries. She hardly ever received mails.

"Hello? Momoko? Anybody there?" joked Souichiro.

"Uh, yeah." She took the parcel from his offered hand. "Thanks."

"Are you going to open it?" he asked.

Sakurako poked him in the ribs. "Don't be so nosy! It's her parcel. She can open it whenever she wants."

"No, it's okay. I'll open it now if you want. I actually wasn't expecting anything so I don't know what it is."

"And if it's a detonator, then at least we go down together," he quipped.

Sakurako glared at him. "Stop bullying the poor girl."

While the couple playfully bickered, Momoko stared at the parcel in her hands. It was small and wrapped in plain brown paper. Nothing special — just her name and the shop's address as Souichiro had said.

She set it on the counter and carefully unwrapped it to reveal a brown box. She regarded it for a moment, wondering what was inside. Giving into her curiosity, she gently peeled the tape off the box and opened the lid.

By now, the couple had stopped talking and were looking at what was inside the box.

"A pocket watch?" said Sakurako.

She was right.

Inside the box, within the crumpled white tissue paper lay an antique steampunk-styled pocket watch.

The three had a right to look so perplexed by the sight.

"Wow, Momoko," said Souichiro. "You sure have a weird secret admirer."

Sakurako raised an eyebrow at her. "I'd normally be nice, but I have to agree with him. You do have a weird secret admirer."

"I don't have a secret admirer," said Momoko, shutting the box, simultaneously breaking the enchanted ambience that had previously enthralled them.

Sakurako apologised. "Alright, it's time to get back to work."

Momoko put the box into the staff room and made sure to take it home with her when she finished work.

* * *

**—•— Sunday, 1 December (1:52am) —•—**

* * *

Before Momoko went to sleep that night, she opened up the box and took a look at the pocket watch again.

The detail on the cover was exquisite and resembled an elegantly designed spider web or, a more accurate analogy, the inside of a hypnotising geometric dome of a mosque. And she would've said so if it hadn't been for the obvious touch of steampunk which included the two metallic clockwork gears at the front of the cover, and not to mention the essence it had of being used to the point of where many parts of the shiny gold finish had dulled to a blunt bronze.

She traced her fingers over the design and felt its bumpy ridges before finally opening the pocket watch.

The inside was more beautiful than the cover as the middle was made of clear glass and gave an intimate view of the clockwork that was ticking behind it.

She would've went further to marvel at the piece if it hadn't been for the most peculiar thing.

"What the…"

The time. It was wrong. It was all wrong.

No, not the time, per se. But the clock. The clock was wrong. Instead of the clock presenting the numbers one to twelve, it went from ten to one-hundred-and-twenty. And not only that, she noticed that the hand wasn't turning clockwise, but rather anti-clockwise. Almost like a timer…

_But to what?_ she wondered.

She didn't know whether the numbers represented seconds, minutes, hours or even days.

And, more importantly, she didn't know who had even sent this to her. And that gave all the more reason to be wary of the device.

She considered telling the Professor about this, but what if she was just being paranoid? This could just as easily have been sent to the wrong person.

_With my name? And with the address of where I work?_

Or it could've been a practical joke.

_But there's no one I know that would pull something like this. This isn't even a joke. This is just…strange._

She decided to think about it tomorrow after she'd slept and so put the pocket watch back into the box and stored it in the top drawer of her bedside table. Taking one last look around the room, she finally turned off the lamp beside her and headed off to bed.

* * *

**AN: This story… Where do I even begin? Quite frankly, I don't even know which rating to put it under. It's not quite a 'T' (I mean, you just read that, right?) and it's still not an 'M' either (at least, not in my opinion). So I'm putting it under a 'T', but I am telling you right now that it is _technically_ a 'T/M' rating.**

**I spent a long time debating whether I wanted anything to do with this story or if I would just let my notes sit on my desk and decay. Finally, after realising that I spent a lot of time simply thinking about this, I would go ahead with writing it out.**

**Now, I'm not going to bore you with the petty details. I'd like to know what _you_ think about this chapter. So…review? :)**


	2. Part II

**•«Phoenix»•**

* * *

_"Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous possessive love that grabs at what it can."_

_~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi_

* * *

******«**PART II»

* * *

**—•— Monday, 2 December (1:20pm) —•—**

* * *

When class finished and the bell signalled that it was lunchtime, Momoko opened her locker and found her lunchbox inside. Taking it out, she slid off the lid and forked a few mouthfuls of risotto and chicken before closing the lid and putting it back into the locker. She rummaged through her folders and found a carton of orange juice, piercing the straw through the hole and drinking it to swallow down her lunch.

Back in the crime-fighting years, she would sit with her two best friends in the classroom and eat lunch. But four years had eventually led them to stray further and further away into their individual social circles, and now they rarely ever spent much time together.

Kaoru usually spent her lunchtimes at the athletics table and spent her general school day with the school's cross country team or basketball group, either talking about regionals or practising for fun. Whereas Miyako spent her time in school with the more creative students, such as the musicians and the young Picassos.

It didn't mean that they weren't best friends, of course. Momoko knew that if she sat at any of their tables, Kaoru and Miyako would welcome her with open arms.

But they simply weren't as close as they used to be.

Momoko had her own little social circle too. However, today she had another task in mind.

She walked to the science laboratories and crouched down behind a wall. She heard voices coming from the science staff room before, finally, three Chemistry teachers walked out, not even noticing her.

Momoko waited until they were out of sight before she stood back up and quickly walked over and opened one of the science lab doors as quietly as possible. She closed it firmly and then searched the cupboards through the lab.

Soon enough, she came across a box of magnifying glasses and pulled it out, setting it on the sturdy desk.

"Alright, now where are you…" she muttered, putting her hand into her right pocket.

She lifted out the pocket watch and set it on the desk, turning on the desk lamp beside her. She picked up a magnifying glass and carefully hovered it over the artefact. The details seemed even more intricate than before as she could now see on the cover that there were…

There were _words_.

At least, she thought they were words. It was a language she wasn't familiar with. But taking in the style of writing, she assumed it was of a European descent. Greek? Russian? She didn't know.

Momoko opened the cover and hovered the magnifying glass over the actual clock. She moved the desk lamp closer and inspected the grooves of the feature. Although she saw more detail, there was nothing else that caught her eye.

She frowned. _So the only thing I need to check is that strange writing on the cover…_

But how would she do that? She considered handing this into the Professor, but how would she explain that she received this anonymously? He would be extremely concerned for her, and the excuse of it being from a 'secret admirer' would only further send him into fear.

Then again, she could go to the school's Language Department. She was aware that there were quite a few students who learnt European languages such as German, Russian and Greek. She could ask them to take a closer look and translate for her.

If they could.

She got out her phone and took pictures of the cover beneath the magnifying glass. It wasn't exactly high quality, but it would have to do for now.

Her head shot up as she suddenly heard voices outside the door.

She turned the desk lamp off and put the pocket watch, her phone and the magnifying glass in her jacket pocket. She didn't have time to put away the box of other magnifying glasses nor to make an escape, so she quickly opened the textbook cupboard and squeezed inside.

Just at that moment, the door opened. Two male teachers were talking as Momoko tried to keep still and prevent the textbooks from falling.

If she got caught now…

The teachers' conversation stopped. One of them asked, "Who put this box here? We don't have any science experiments today."

"It could be the Physics Department. The first year is learning about light refraction and light spectrum. The teachers could've used a magnifying glass for demonstration."

"Hm, perhaps."

Momoko was relieved when they didn't push the matter further and simply put the box away. But now she had to get out. The question was how?

"What experiment is happening after lunch?" asked one teacher as they moved around the room.

"A Chemistry titration."

"So they need burettes?"

"And pipettes."

Momoko froze when she realised that the pipettes were inside this cupboard along with the textbooks.

_Shit._

She heard footsteps getting closer and was held in suspense for when she'd be caught.

"What about the volumetric flasks?"

"Oh, yes. They're in the Biology department. I think they were using it in an experiment yesterday."

"I'll go and get them."

Momoko heard a door creak open and shut close. Then there was silence as the other teacher moved to the cupboard of where she was hiding.

She wasn't supposed to be here. It was one thing going into a classroom during lunchtime. But going into a science laboratory? No one had a proper excuse for that unless they had been granted written permission by a science teacher to perform experiments. But she certainly wasn't here for that reason.

If she got caught now, she'd have no explanation.

"Ah, wait. The conical flasks are in the Biology Department too…" muttered the teacher when he was right in front of the cupboard. "Better get that first."

There was the sound of footsteps receding and the door opening and closing. Then there were no more noises.

Momoko breathed a sigh of relief before gently pushing herself out of the cupboard and quickly making her exit out of the laboratory.

* * *

**—•— Tuesday, 3 December (12:34am) —•—**

* * *

Momoko glanced at her bedroom clock. It was late. She needed to get to bed.

But Kaoru had given her the SD card from the camera she had used last week to take pictures of the murder scene. And since Momoko wasn't able to touch anything or alter the crime scene in any way before the investigation team, she really wanted to see the pictures. Just to see if she'd missed out on anything while she was there.

She slid the SD card into a slot in her laptop and waited at her desk. A few minutes later, it finally loaded. She opened up the first picture which was the scene she remembered being greeted to.

_HANGMAN._

Somehow, being in her cosy room and remembering how cold and haunted the hotel room felt made gooseflesh rise across her skin.

After scanning through the photograph, she clicked onto the next one. And this process continued until she arrived to the photographs of which Kaoru had taken of the woman's hanging body.

It felt disgraceful having the woman displayed like that: half-naked and suspended in the air in all her vulnerability. It was clear to see that she was once beautiful. Momoko noticed the ivory skin, the full lips that were caked with dried blood and, more importantly, the soft locks of auburn hair that fell down in curves all the way to the bottom of her waist.

And suddenly, Momoko remembered Sakurako saying something about the victims' hair. What was it?

_'I don't mean to be so forward, but the news recently announced that what the victims all had in common were that they were female and had long auburn hair.'_

Was this true?

Well, of course it had to be if the police were confirming this. But was that what Sakurako meant when she said that Momoko should be worried?

Momoko glanced at the mirror behind her. Her hair was down now, so it reached her bottom. It was long. It was auburn. But was she worried? Surprisingly, no. But surely she should've been.

Momoko looked back to the laptop screen and observed the photo. A few minutes passed and she clicked to the next photo which was of the woman's body again, except at an angle to the right.

Momoko squinted her eyes when she spotted something. The woman's right hand had something written inside. It was clear to see that it was a message written in black ink, but the angle of the photo didn't give enough justice for her to read what it said. So she clicked onto the next photo, hoping there were more photographs of the woman's body. But, instead, Kaoru had only taken photos of the body from the left angle. That was the only right angle photo there was.

Momoko sighed. _Perhaps it was nothing. Maybe the woman had a phone number written on her hand or something._

But her curiosity wouldn't leave her alone and her imagination only further made her wonder if there was actually something important written there. The only way she could find out would be to revisit the crime scene and see the body for herself. But it was too late now. The investigation team had already staked their claim. It was impossible for her to go back.

She cursed herself for not examining the body carefully enough when she had the chance.

Knowing there was no point in staying up so late when she had school tomorrow, she turned off the laptop and then went to bed, switching off the lights.

* * *

**—•— Tuesday, 3 December (1:05pm) —•—**

* * *

Momoko found it hard to stay awake. She'd been getting even more tired recently and found her head spinning when she moved her head too quickly. And in class, when the teacher had been asking her a question, it took her a lot of energy and effort to even understand the question, forget answering it. And then she had trouble focusing on the work on the board. Instead, she spent the rest of class looking out the window.

It was strange, really. Momoko was a person of time and schedule. She had to have a routine for everything. Before she became a superheroine, her routine consisted of getting up, taking a shower, eating breakfast, going to school, getting the groceries, and then heading back home. So when she became a part of Powerpuff Girls Z, her routine became disrupted with the disorganised calls for saving the day, and sometimes even night. But for some reason, it hadn't bothered her. Maybe it was because she was only thirteen and there wasn't much to be bothered by. Or maybe it was because her passion for saving people's lives made it worth sacrificing her time and schedules.

But when Him was defeated and the villains gradually moved on, her life slowly returned back to its state of normalcy.

Or, at least, as close to normalcy as it could.

After all, despite Him being gone, there were still stranded black particles in Tokyo City. Though there wasn't as many as there used to be. They didn't cause any trouble. They didn't even do anything. They were just _there_. Which was why the Professor was always monitoring them, and very rarely sending the girls to investigate.

The thing was, she had once accidentally overheard the Professor talking to Ms. Bellum about Him's disappearance. He said 'disappearance' because he had this theory that perhaps Him wasn't gone forever. That He couldn't really die. That it just wasn't possible and that He'd always be around in some shape or form.

Not that the Professor or Ms. Bellum were aware that she had this knowledge. And, quite frankly, Momoko was hoping to keep it that way. Especially when Kaoru and Miyako didn't know about this either. Obviously she and her friends hadn't been told this for a good reason.

But she could see sense in the theory. If Him hadn't really died — if he had just disappeared temporarily and his black particles remained — it would explain why she and her friends still had their powers even after supposedly giving them up to destroy Him in the first place.

But that was a much more frightening scenario if it were the truth. If he ever came back…

Momoko bit her lip. _Well, he's obviously not a fan of the Powerpuff Girls Z after what we did to him._

Essentially, if he came back, they were _screwed_.

As if they weren't already in enough of a hassle with what of the murders that were happening. Her wonderful routine, that had been so close to normalcy, was ruined again. And though it hadn't bothered her when she was younger, it certainly bothered her now. And this brought her back to the attention of the pocket watch.

She needed to know what those words meant.

And so, when class finally finished and the bell signalled it was lunchtime, she rushed out of the classroom and down the hallway.

When she reached her locker, she was surprised. Kaoru and Miyako stood there, waiting for her.

"Oh, hey, guys," said Momoko.

Kaoru only nodded in reply while Miyako greeted, "Hey, Momoko. How was class?"

"Uh, same as always. You know how it is. What are you two up to?"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten already?"

Momoko looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes and Miyako chuckled, "That's just like you, Momoko. Don't you remember it's Kuriko's birthday this Friday? Surely you haven't forgotten your own sister's birthday."

Actually, she had. She faintly remembered her parents talking about dinner reservations for the birthday. But Momoko didn't really mind. Kuriko had her own friends to keep her company and would only find her older sister's presence an embarrassment. But that didn't mean that Momoko was free from buying presents.

Kaoru smirked. "So you _did_ forget. Well then, you better join us. We're going out for lunch today to see if we can get her anything."

"Right now?" questioned Momoko.

She had been planning on doing something important this lunchtime. Surely, Kuriko's birthday could wait.

"Yes, right now," answered Miyako. "Why? Is there something else you need to do? If so, then that's okay."

Then Momoko shook her head. _No, what the hell am I thinking? This is my sister's birthday. Investigation or not, I'm still family._

"No, no. It's fine. Come on. Let's go," said Momoko, already dragging her two friends through the corridors and out the school's front door. "So, where are we going first?"

"Well, I was thinking of getting her something from the boutique. Like shoes," suggested Miyako. "She's going to be thirteen now — a teenager."

"Just what she needs. New shoes to rub into my face."

Kaoru made a sound of amusement but didn't join in the conversation as she lingered behind the two girls. Momoko didn't blame her. She was probably tired of being dragged around boutiques and other fashion retailers by now. Momoko knew that Kaoru would probably run at any chance given; but being Kuriko's birthday, she decided to stay put.

After about half an hour of searching, the three girls finally agreed on a pair of shoes that Kuriko would love for her birthday. It wasn't too showy and was perfectly suitable.

As they exited the boutique and headed back to the school before lunchtime ended, Momoko said, "I'm pretty sure Kuriko is going to take her friends to that new restaurant in the mall on Friday. If that happens, would you guys like to come?"

Miyako tilted her head to the side. "We wouldn't want to bother you. Kuriko should enjoy her celebrations without us turning up."

Momoko raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? I'm going to be surrounded by twelve and thirteen-year-old girls whining about boys and fashion. I want to survive a little longer, guys."

"Well, if it doesn't bother your parents or your sister, then I'd love to come."

Kaoru shrugged. "I might have basketball practise on Friday. I'll ask the coach today and let you know."

Just as the three friends approached the school gates, Miyako grinned and hugged her two friends. "Aw! This is just like old times! Us hanging out together and making plans."

Kaoru mumbled, "I think I might have to beg to go to Friday's practise."

Momoko rolled her eyes. "Well, you two can let me know before Friday. I'll see you around."

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Miyako. "Don't you want to have lunch with us?"

Momoko paused. Any other day, and she would've accepted. But lunchtime was nearly over and she still hadn't made progress with translating the words on the cover of the pocket watch. She needed to go now.

"Uh, maybe some other time. Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow!"

She quickly turned around and walked away, not wanting to see her friends' reactions. She felt guilty for going behind their backs, but she wasn't so clear on what was going on either. Miyako could get easily concerned and tell the professor about the pocket watch, the message and the visit to Mojo's house. And although she meant well, Momoko would be in a lot of trouble.

She rushed to the school's Languages department and then paused. What was she supposed to do now? Her question was answered when a boy walked out of one of the language classrooms.

"Hey! You there!" called Momoko. "What language do you take?"

The boy looked at her, puzzled. "Uh… Russian?"

She took her phone out of her jacket pocket and then showed him the picture of the writing on the pocket watch. "Know what language that is?"

"That would be Greek. Why? Do you need someone to translate it?"

"Yeah. Do you know anyone?"

"Well, Sakamoto is still in the classroom. You better talk to him quickly before lunch ends." And then the boy left her.

She felt uncomfortable. _Sakamoto? Geez, it's been a really long time. We never really had that much of a close relationship…_

She knocked on the classroom door and then entered to find him at his desk, tidying up his classwork. He looked up when he heard her enter. He seemed surprised. "Oh, hello there, Momoko."

She hadn't expected him to remember her. She definitely didn't remember him until now. "Uh, hi, Sakamoto. Do you do Greek?"

He nodded.

"Could you do me a favour and try to translate this?" she asked, showing him the same picture she had showed the boy.

He gave a shy smile. "I'm only on my fourth year of Greek. Don't expect any wonders from me."

"That's okay. Anything will do."

"Alright then." He moved closer and tore out a piece of paper from his notebook. "Hm… Is that a pocket watch? It's very beautiful. Where did you get it?"

"Uh, from a friend."

"It's pretty." He paused. "And very steampunk. Didn't think you were into that kind of thing."

"I'm really not—"

"Ofilia kolympa ston kypo."

"Er… What?"

He wrote the words from the pocket watch down onto the paper.

_Οφηλία κολυμπά στον κήπο._

"Give me a minute to translate it," he muttered as he looked at the sentence.

She gave him some space to do so and after a few seconds, he showed the paper to her.

"Essentially, the gist of it is: _'in the garden, Ophelia bathes'_," he said, watching her reaction. "Doesn't really make sense, but there you go."

She only looked perplexed. _What the hell? Is that it? What's that supposed to even mean?_

"You okay, Momoko?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks, Sakamoto. You did a great job."

She was making to leave but then he handed her a scrap of paper with a phone number on it. She looked at him, confused.

He seemed to look a little shy himself. "Just in case you, er, ever want to hang out or talk or something. Whatever suits you, I guess." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

_Is he… Is he asking me out on a date? _She didn't want to be rude, but she also wasn't looking into a relationship at the moment either. So instead she settled for a "I'll think about it, thanks," waved goodbye and then left, pushing the phone number into the depths of her pocket.

Just at that moment, the bell rang and she headed off to class.

* * *

**To:** _Momoko Akatsustumi_

**From:** _Kaoru Matsubara_

**Date/Time:** _03/12/13; 4:50pm_

**Subject:** _SD Card Photos_

**Attachment(s): **_DSC0097, DSC0098, DSC0099, DSC0100, DSC0101, DSC0102, DSC0103, DSC0104_

Hey, Momoko.

You know the other day when we went to check out that crime scene and I took those photos? I forgot to give you the other SD card I used halfway through. I attached the other photographs to this e-mail if you want to flick through them. I was just looking through the pictures I took and I saw something really strange. I don't know if it's on the other card I gave you, but there was a message written on the woman's right hand. Maybe you've already noticed it.

It says, _"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."_

Any ideas, genius? I'm off to basketball practise so I can't help you out with that at the moment. I'll try and e-mail you tonight when I come back. I've already told Miyako about the message, so you can talk to her.

Oh, and by the way, are you alright? Don't mean to be so blunt, but you looked like you got run over by a bus today in school. Have you been getting enough sleep? Miyako's been worried about you.

- Kaoru

* * *

**To:** _Momoko Akatsustumi_

**From:** _Miyako Gotokuji_

**Date/Time:** _03/12/13; 5:01pm_

**Subject:** _No Subject_

Hi, Momoko.

Kaoru told me about the message thing. I've been doing some research on the Internet and I found that _"We know what we are, but know not what we may be,"_ is a line from Shakespeare's story, The Tragedy of Hamlet. It's said by a character called 'Ophelia' who is the daughter of Polonius and…

I'm boring you, aren't I? Well, I'm actually in school at the moment. I'm working on a new design for my portfolio right now. Can you believe that they keep us here after school if we don't finish, at least, one page for our portfolio? Anyway, I excused myself to go to the toilets so I could type this up on my phone. You're probably working at the sweet shop right now or something. So can you e-mail me when you get back home?

That reminds me, have you been sleeping properly? You looked really tired. Don't overwork yourself, okay? It's always great to have a little fun now and then. Maybe we can do something together this weekend? Just the three of us? It'll be just like old times.

Oh, and I can't wait for Friday! I'm looking forward to the restaurant meal. :D

Miyako xxx

* * *

**To: **_Momoko Akatsustumi_

**From: **_Kaoru Matsubara_

**Date/Time: **_03/12/13; 5:46pm_

**Subject:** _Learn How to Wash, Dumbass_

Dai, I swear to God. This is the third time you mixed your fucking reds with my whites in the wash! How many times do I have to tell you to separate them? You think I like wearing pink socks and pink t-shirts to team practises? When I get home, you're screwed.

- Kaoru

* * *

**To:** _Momoko Akatsustumi_

**From:** _Kaoru Matsubara_

**Date/Time:** _03/12/13; 5:47pm_

**Subject:** _No Subject_

Goddammit. My mistake. Ignore that last message, Momoko. Just don't ask. Please, for fuck's sake, just don't.

- Kaoru

* * *

**—•— Tuesday, 3 December (10:23pm) —•—**

* * *

Momoko chuckled at the last two e-mails but then flicked back to the first two e-mails she had opened.

_'We know what we are, but know not what we may be.'_

She frowned.

_'...a line from Shakespeare's story, The Tragedy of Hamlet. It's said by a character called 'Ophelia'...'_

Momoko realised what she found so disturbing about the two e-mails. _Ophelia._ Now where had she heard that name before? She got up from her desk and went to her closet where she put away the jacket she wore today in school. Inside the pocket was the pocket watch. Taking it out, she brushed her thumb over the cover. There it was written, _Οφηλία κολυμπά στον κήπο._

"In the garden, Ophelia bathes…" muttered Momoko.

The resemblance was uncanny. The murder scene had a message that was said by a character called 'Ophelia', and now her mysterious pocket watch presented the name 'Ophelia'.

What on earth did this mean?

She wasn't sure, but it almost seemed as though the last murder and the pocket watch were connected. And that knowledge made Momoko feel queasy. After all, she had been suspicious of the pocket watch from the very start. Especially in how it arrived so anonymously without a trace back to the sender. And not to mention its strange approach to time.

She opened the cover to look inside the pocket watch again. She was shocked to find that the hand had moved from the number 120 — where the hand had originally been pointing to when she first got the pocket watch — to just under the number 60. The time had changed. But in what way? What had changed? It was obvious now that the number didn't represent the days, because sixty days couldn't have passed. And it couldn't be minutes or seconds either, or else the the hand would've moved faster. Her only guess what that the numbers represented hours. But what would happen when the hand reached zero?

Whichever way she looked at it, it was futile to deny the possibility that the real murderer could have sent her this.

And that simply made her skin crawl. She shivered and quickly turned around out of reflex to check if she was alone.

She was.

She walked back to the desk and sat down in front of her laptop. She was about to type a reply to her friends about this strange and eerie new finding when she remembered that they didn't know about the pocket watch.

And now that there was the possibility that the murderer of the very crime they were trying to solve had sent this to her, she didn't want her friends to know. Or, at the very least, she felt unsettled and was hesitant to let them know.

But that didn't stop her from wondering why. Why did the murderer send this to her and not her friends? Why was he — or she — targeting _her?_

And that last thought made her quickly turn off her laptop and go to bed early. And as she lay there, tugging her duvet over her shoulder and covering the back of her head, she wondered if she was in any possible danger. And more importantly…

Was she the next target?

* * *

**AN: Okay, so this chapter is slightly shorter than the others, but it had to be done in order for the next few chapters to unfold without any jumpy breaks. But that's good news since it means that the next chapter can satisfy your lengthy craves. :D**

**So, in the meanwhile, why not drop by a review? :)**


	3. Part III

**•«Phoenix»•**

* * *

_"But spending your life concentrating on death is like watching a whole movie and thinking only about the credits that are going to roll at the end. It's a mistake of emphasis."_

_~ Nicholson Baker, The Anthologist_

* * *

******«**PART III»

* * *

**—•— Friday, 6 December (6:21pm) —•—**

* * *

The gardener was the last person to leave the Akatsuka Botanical Garden every evening. And although her family and friends always wondered why she even stuck with the job of simply care-taking plants, she couldn't explain to them just how wonderful it was when, at the end of the day when everyone was gone, the silent sounds of the garden seemed to relax her.

Even now, on a Friday evening, she gently walked down the stone path, leading down the hill in bare feet and a thin white dress that seemed to flow like water as the wind breezed through the leaves. Her shoes were in her other hand. There was something fun about treading through the gardens without them on. She heard the sounds of water trickling down the bamboo fountain and the koi fish lapping up water every time they jumped in the large pond.

She hummed to herself with a checklist in her hand to ensure that all the plants were in good condition. After she did that, she would be able to lock the front gate and head home.

Looking up into the sky, she could already see how dark it had gotten since night came early in the winter.

She made her way to the pond to check if all the bamboo trees were holding. She made a note in her checklist to remove the koi fish from the water on Sunday. It would be getting very cold soon, and then the large pond would be frozen.

As she scribbled this down, she heard a sound that was not so familiar. It wasn't the sound of the wind, or the leaves, or the fish, or even the trickling of water. It was a sudden sharp metallic sound.

She turned around. "Is anybody there?" she called out. "I'm afraid this garden is closed now. I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave. You can come visit tomorrow."

No reply.

She kept her stance and observed her surroundings for a few silent minutes before finally turning her attention back to the pond, running her free hand through her long auburn locks.

It didn't take too long for her to hear the sound of footsteps pressing quietly against the soft soil. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed these sounds; but considering she was accustomed to the usual sounds of nature, it wasn't too difficult for her to sense a sudden change in the noise patterns.

And it wasn't so difficult to sense a sudden change in the atmosphere.

She wasn't alone.

_Nobody can hear me scream…_

She didn't know why that last thought entered her mind; but when it did, it was impossible for it to leave her head. Now she was searching around frantically. She had to make sure she was alright.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice shaking slightly.

It occurred to her that calling out would only alert the intruder of her whereabouts or that she was aware of them being there. She mentally kicked herself. She should've just quickly slipped away from the garden when she had the chance. This place was like a maze, and she knew the shortcuts. She had had the upper hand here, and now she had taken away her own advantage.

There was silence.

Suddenly, she darted forward, trying to make a run for it but an arm wrapped itself around her waist and a hand clamped onto her mouth.

"Shall we take a walk around the garden?" asked the voice, horrifyingly amused.

Her eyes widened, and she knew. She just _knew_ that this intruder had something else in mind.

* * *

**—•— Friday, 6 December (8:12pm) —•—**

* * *

It took a long moment for Momoko to realise that the ringing she was hearing was not part of her dream but rather reality. She woke up with a start and immediately grabbed the phone from her bedside table.

"Hello?" she asked, without even checking the caller ID.

"Momoko! I've been calling you for the past hour! Where have you been?"

The past hour? How long had she been asleep? "Sorry, Miyako. I was asleep." But still… She should've heard the sound of her phone ringing. She wasn't a heavy sleeper.

"Asleep? Your parents have been worried sick! They've been calling you too! Everyone's at the movies because they didn't know where you were!"

Momoko got up from bed. "What on earth are you talking about, Miyako?"

"Kuriko's birthday party, remember?"

Her eyes widened and she looked at the clock on her wall. Kuriko's birthday celebration began at six, and it was well past eight right now. "Crap. What happened?"

"You were supposed to pick me up for the celebration. Your parents went to the restaurant with Kuriko because they thought you were with me. But even after Kuriko's friends arrived, you still weren't there. So they called me. But I told them that you hadn't come to pick me up yet. They tried to call you and so did I. I'm surprised you even picked up. Was your phone on silent or something?"

_No. It wasn't._ "Wait, where are my parents now?"

"Well, they left the restaurant about half an hour ago and took Kuriko and her friends to the cinema to see a movie. They're still trying to call you."

"Okay, give me a moment. I need to call my parents to tell them I'm alright. I'll call you back."

"Alright."

Momoko hung up and dialled her mother's number. "Mum?"

"Oh, thank goodness! Momoko, are you alright?"

Hearing the relief in her mother's voice made her feel ashamed for having made her family and friends worry. It was obvious that her mother had been on the verge of tears as she could tell from the blunder of words.

"Yes, mum. I'm fine. I'm really, really sorry. I must've fallen asleep. I didn't notice…"

"Oh, honey. I'm just glad you're alright. I couldn't even watch the movie with the girls without worrying about you."

"Where's dad?"

"Your father's still in the movie hall with Kuriko and her friends. I'm in the foyer. Are you still at home?"

"Yes. Do you want me to come over?"

"No, no. That's fine. The movie will only take another half an hour, then we'll be back home soon. You can stay. I was just really worried."

"Yeah, I know, mum. I'm really sorry."

"It's alright, honey. We know you didn't me—"

"No, I mean about messing up Kuriko's birthday…"

Her mother sighed. "Well, I'm not holding a grudge against you. I'm just glad you're fine. We thought something had happened with all these murders going around town…"

Momoko felt horrible. Her mother had every right to be worried. These murders had probably already put them on edge, and to suddenly find their daughter not answering calls and not with her friends… It was enough to give the sneaking suspicion that something was wrong. She had probably given her parents a heart attack.

"I'm fine, mum. Thanks. I'll see you later."

"Bye, sweetie."

Momoko then called Miyako again. "Hey."

"Did you call your parents?"

"Yeah… They were pretty freaked out."

"So was I. How's Kuriko's birthday going?"

Momoko groaned. "Oh, God. Please don't remind me. She probably hates me now." She paused. "Well, she probably hates me more than she usually does." Then she remembered something. "I'm so sorry for not picking you up!"

"It's fine, Momoko. We're all just glad you're okay. You gave us quite a scare, you know," said Miyako. "By the way, you said you fell asleep. Are you sure you're alright, Momoko? You've been looking really…well, tired lately. Have you been getting enough sleep? It's pretty worrying."

"I don't know, Miyako. Maybe Sakurako was right. She told me to get more sleep."

"And have you?"

"…no."

"Exactly," said Miyako. "That's your problem. You're going to become sick soon if you don't sleep properly, you know."

Momoko sighed. "I know. I'll try."

She moved to the dressing table and began gently brushing her hair as she held the phone between her right shoulder and ear. She was about to tie it up when she realised she couldn't find her red ribbon.

"What the…" she muttered, using one hand to hold her ponytail and the other hand to scramble through the items on the dressing table.

"What's wrong?" asked Miyako.

_My ribbon. I always keep it here. Where has it gone?_ "Uh, nothing… Just looking for something," muttered Momoko, scrambling the various objects on the dressing table, toppling over nail polish bottles. _Where is it?_

"What are you looking for?"

"Um… My red ribbon. You know, the one that I use in my hair?"

Miyako laughed. "You're obsessed with that ribbon. Just use a hair bobble for now. You can buy another ribbon."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Momoko opened a drawer and picked up a hair bobble.

"I was actually going to call you anyway. I was doing some research this week on the whole Ophelia thing."

Momoko squeaked and dropped her hair bobble. _Wait, she doesn't even know about the pocket watch. Quit being so jumpy!_

"You okay, Momoko?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she said, bending down and picking up the bobble. "You were saying?"

"Well, I took out Shakespeare's story of the Tragedy of Hamlet from the school library and read through it. It didn't give me any clues though. Essentially, the character 'Ophelia' mysteriously drowned. Later on in the story, it's speculated whether she committed suicide or not. And in the end, it's assumed she _did_ commit suicide. The only link I can see between the story and these recent murders is death."

Momoko glanced at the pocket watch on her bedside table. "I'll look into it. Thanks for telling me."

"No problem. Oh, by the way, I was talking to Kaoru today and I wanted the three of us to hang out tomorrow. And it's a Saturday, so I don't want to hear any excuses about lots of homeworks or exams."

"Hm, depends. What are we doing?"

"Well, the Christmas Market has come downtown. We could go there and check out the stalls. It'll be fun! We'll probably only be there for a few hours or something."

"Sounds like fun. Is Kaoru coming?"

"Only if you are."

Momoko pondered. She really did need a break. This investigation had been getting to her head, not to mention that she'd been incredibly fatigued. And, most of all, Miyako seemed to be really hopeful about the three best friends spending time together again. Momoko really didn't want to let her down.

"Alright then," she said. "I'll come. But I'm working from ten to two tomorrow. How about we meet up at three?"

"Great. See you then. And remember, go to sleep early!"

Momoko put the phone down, picking up the pocket watch, and then went to her desk. After turning the laptop on, she did a quick Google search on the Tragedy of Hamlet. The story revealed precisely what Miyako had relayed to her. The woman, Ophelia, had drowned in the story. And it was also said that she looked angelic as she floated in the water with nature surrounding her.

It did seem somewhat a tragedy.

But there was nothing that gave any clues as to why one of Ophelia's quotes was written on that woman's hand in the hotel. There was no resemblance. None whatsoever.

Momoko glanced at the pocket watch in her other hand. Something about it was not quite right… She stared at it for a moment. It took her a moment to realise what was so different about it; and when she did, she quickly opened the cover.

There was no ticking. The pocket watch had stopped working.

No, not that it had stopped working. It was…finished. The hand which had once pointed at sixty was now at zero. And it didn't seem to be moving anymore. The gears behind the clear glass of the clock was now still. Motionless.

Momoko found relief that this pocket watch wasn't some kind of detonator. And she was also glad that she was alright. After all, if the zero had signalled her death, surely she should've been dead by now.

The thought caused gooseflesh to rise across her skin and she rubbed her arms.

Shaking her head, she looked back at the laptop screen and was about to exit the window when she accidentally clicked on Images. The Google screen immediately presented her with artistic pictures of a woman. Ophelia. Drowning.

But that wasn't what made her freeze.

She suddenly realised that in every picture, Ophelia was depicted as having long auburn hair.

She had found the sinister link.

* * *

**—•— Saturday, 7 December (7:19am) —•—**

* * *

Momoko had already been in a bad mood for not being able to find her red ribbon this morning. But all that vanished the second the Professor called her to tell her that there had been another murder.

She arrived to the crime scene and saw that Kaoru and Miyako had already arrived and were talking with the Professor. Momoko rushed over.

"What happened? Who is it this time?" she asked.

The Professor sighed. "There's been another case. She was the gardener of this place," he said, gesturing to the sign behind him that said 'Akatsuka Botanical Garden'. "She was found in the pond by the owner this morning. She…drowned."

Miyako nodded and said to Momoko, "I already told him about the Ophelia thing."

And Momoko realised why she was even mentioning Ophelia. Ophelia drowned in a garden. And now, so had this person. Suddenly, the writing on the pocket watch made sense.

_In the garden, Ophelia bathes._

Momoko remembered something. Something important. "Is she still there? I need to see something."

The Professor nodded and led the three girls through the thick spreads of trees, all the way to the large pond which was shaded by a layer of tree canopies. The police were around, putting up tapes that read 'Crime Scene: Do Not Enter'.

"We're not allowed to go up close, but we can still see enough from here," he said.

He was right. Momoko didn't know what to say when she saw the gardener's body floating on the water, surrounded by water lilies and koi fish jumping around gently, causing soft ripples in the water. Despite there being an investigation team, everyone was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of nature.

The body was wearing a thin white dress that flowed and moved in the ripples of the water. The murderer had even managed to position a bunch of roses into the woman's hands, and then placed a chain of white daisies on the crown of the woman's head.

The body looked angelic and peaceful. The skin was ivory white, but the tinge of blue made it obvious that she had drowned forcefully to death. And that made the entire scene so…_sick._

But what made Momoko's skin crawl was the realisation that the woman's body and this scene had a strong resemblance to the images of Ophelia she had seen last night on her laptop.

And that's when she noticed that the gardener also had long auburn hair with tendrils swirling around the body, gracefully.

"It seems that the murderer had given us a clue to the next murder in the last crime scene," said the Professor, referring to the Hangman woman who had Ophelia's quote scrawled onto her right hand.

"So we're not just dealing with a person whose only purpose is to kill?" wondered Kaoru. "This guy is actually trying to play some sort of sick game?"

"It seems so."

Momoko felt afraid. That pocket watch… There was a strong likelihood that the pocket watch had come from the murderer. The murderer had already given her an extra clue about this murder. But that also meant that the murderer had to have known who Momoko was.

"Momoko, you've been pretty quiet. Are you okay?" asked Miyako, slightly concerned.

Momoko wasn't so sure.

* * *

**—•— Saturday, 7 December (2:27pm) —•—**

* * *

After brushing the flour off her apron, she hung it up and put it on the hook. "I'm heading home, Sakurako!"

"Alright. Have fun!"

Momoko picked up her shoulder bag and headed out the sweet shop. Just then, she heard her phone ring. Checking the caller ID, she picked up. "Hey, Miyako. I know, I just finished work. I'm going home to change and then I'll be over at the Christmas Market."

"Wait, no. Don't go home yet. We're at the Professor's lab. Come here." There was something in Miyako's tone that sounded…sober, and less joyful than it usually was.

"Oh. Alright then. I'll be right over."

Momoko hung up and then took the next bus. By the time she arrived to the lab, it was almost three. What was so important that Kaoru and Miyako wanted her to come to the lab?

She walked in through the front doors and found them waiting for her on the sofa.

"Hey, guys," she said. "What's up?"

The Professor seemed to be a bit sober too. Not that she blamed them, after all there had been another murder this morning. "We got a call this afternoon. From the police. About this," he said, holding up a red ribbon.

Not just any red ribbon. _Her_ red ribbon. The one that she couldn't find last night.

"Look familiar?"

"It's…mine. Where did you find it?" she asked. _And why are the police involved?_

He sighed. "The police found this at the crime scene from this morning. This ribbon was tied around the woman's neck. Very tightly. They'd been running DNA samples on it — they found hair DNA that matched yours." He paused. "What was it doing there?"

Momoko looked stupefied. She didn't know what her ribbon was doing at a crime scene either. A murder scene, nonetheless.

"I don't know. I lost it last night and I've been looking for it since."

He nodded. "That's what Miyako told me. She said you two were talking on the phone last night and you mentioned losing your ribbon."

Kaoru, who had been watching her carefully for a few minutes, finally said, "You do know what this means, right?"

Momoko slowly shook her head, but she could already hear the answer.

"It means that you're now a suspect."

"What? But I didn't even do anything!"

The Professor shook his head. "Now, now. Let's not overreact. We're not accusing you."

"Really? Because it sounds like you are!"

"We're not, Momoko," said Miyako. "You told me you were asleep for about two hours. The murder is predicted to have happened sometime inbetween that. You couldn't possibly by a suspect."

"Unless she lied," quipped Kaoru.

Miyako glared at her. "Not helping."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "I was just kidding."

But now Momoko was on edge. "I'm a suspect? I can't go to prison! I didn't even do anything, I swear!"

"Oh, Momoko, honestly! Just calm down!"

"Calm down? The police think I'm the murderer and—"

"The police don't think you're the murderer, okay? Yes, there's suspicion of why your ribbon was there in the first place, but they've got nothing to pin on you, alright? You don't have a criminal record, you're a good girl with good grades and you have a normal family with a normal life. How could they possibly accuse you?"

Momoko was about to answer back by saying that she didn't have a normal life because she was still a Powerpuff, but then decided that Kaoru was right. "Then what do they want?"

The Professor shook his head. "They don't want anything. Not yet. They may ask you questions later on, but definitely not now. They've taken a statement from Miyako. They're most likely sure that you're not a reasonable suspect due to your clean history. But that doesn't mean you're off the hook. They have told us to let you know that you're not allowed to leave the country in the meanwhile until they've confirmed your innocence."

"That's still not a good thing!" cried Momoko.

"Chill. It's not like you're going to Kazakstan or something," muttered Kaoru.

Miyako stepped on Kaoru's foot, eliciting a yelp of pain. "You're still not helping."

"Geez! You people are so uptight," hissed Kaoru, rubbing her foot and glaring at Miyako.

Miyako rolled her eyes and turned to Momoko. "Look, Momoko. It's fine. There's probably a good reason as to why it turned up there and the police will investigate it. But for now, we still need to go to the Christmas Market. So come on!"

Momoko gave a small smile for the sake of her friend.

The thing was, what really had her worried wasn't that her ribbon had gone missing in the first place — it was the fact that her ribbon had gone missing and then somehow ended up tied around the woman's neck.

No, not somehow. Anyone with any sense of knowledge would know that the murderer had done that. But that would mean that the murderer had managed to get into her bedroom and steal her ribbon…

"Hey, Momoko. You coming?"

She shook the thoughts out of her head. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

**—•— Saturday, 7 December (4:56pm) —•—**

* * *

The Christmas Market came downtown every year in December, and in the middle of the market stood a large Christmas tree that reached a height of 30 feet and stood out in the darkening days of winter with its flashing lights. It was simply grand.

Momoko enjoyed the Christmas Market. Nearly everyone did. The market allowed people to make homemade crafts and sell them or bake cookies or introduce their international culture just as the French cuisine store on her right was.

"Une crêpe, s'il vous plaît?" asked Miyako politely.

The man behind the counter flipped a very thin pancake before adding whipped cream and strawberries inside it and folding the pancake. He then poured melted chocolate over the crêpe and added sliced bananas on top, handing it to Miyako on a plate.

"Mmm. Still warm," she mumbled as she bit into it. "Kaoru, pay for me."

Kaoru glared at her. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because you love me."

Kaoru scoffed. "Yeah, right." But she still fished out a fiver from her pocket and handed it to the man.

"You're too sweet," commented Momoko, nudging her dark-haired friend.

Kaoru scowled and told her to fuck off while Miyako giggled.

"So, where should we go now?" asked Miyako.

"How about we check out the crafts?" suggested Momoko.

"That sounds like a great idea! Come on, Kaoru."

Kaoru mumbled something incoherent but still let Miyako loop her arm through hers and pull her forward. Momoko smiled.

It was nice having just the three of them together again. It really did seem like old times, when fighting crime just involved childish tactics. Nowadays, injustice seem to come in the form of blood and torture. And a life was lost every time.

"Aw! Look at those cute angels!" cooed Miyako, gesturing to the Christmas tree decorations in one of the craft stalls.

Momoko had to admit, despite it being homemade, the angel ornaments were extremely extravagant and delicate. It was obvious that a lot of time and effort had been put into them.

"Kaoru, could you—"

Kaoru took that as her cue to shrug out of Miyako's grip and walk away, muttering something along the lines of "give me a fucking break."

Miyako pouted before realising that Kaoru wasn't coming back. Finally she rolled her eyes. "She's too uptight."

Momoko raised an eyebrow. "Are you joking? You're practically siphoning money off of her. Don't you have your own?"

Miyako nodded. "Of course I brought my own money. I just thought if I made her pay, maybe she'd try and enjoy herself a bit more." She paused and then said, "Guess I'll have to pay for these angels myself."

"I'll go and find Kaoru." Momoko turned away from the stall but managed to bump into someone. "Oh, sorry! I didn't see you there!" She looked up at who she had bumped into and immediately recognised him. "Sakamoto?"

He looked just as surprised as her. "Oh, hey there, Momoko. Hadn't expected to see you here. How are you?"

"Uh, yeah. Pretty good. I'm just here with my friends."

"I was out shopping for relatives. Well, younger cousins, to be correct. You know how kids are with Christmas presents and all," he said with a roll of his eyes.

Yes, she did know. Her little sister created a whole wish list of demands for Santa, despite being a young teenager.

Momoko didn't realise that she was walking alongside Sakamoto until her arm brushed against his. It had been years since she'd met him. The last time had been in Junior High when he was extremely immature and pretty much the joke of the class. He wasn't even that attractive. But when she saw him the other day in the school's Language department, she realised that there was something different about him. Very different.

And even now, when she glanced up at him, she realised that he'd grown taller and he actually looked older. Black thick-rimmed glasses kept slipping down his nose and he continually pushed them back up. He was wearing a beanie, letting his dark shaggy hair fall into his eyes.

"So have you bought anything?" he asked.

"Uh, no. Not yet," she answered, noticing that the sky was now a navy blue, growing darker and darker.

"You haven't eaten either?"

"No, but I'm going to."

"Then I'll make it my treat."

"Oh, no. You really don't have to."

"But I insist. Come on. I was hungry anyway."

"I'm with my friends."

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I borrowed you for ten minutes."

It seemed as though he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer, and so she followed him to the food section of the Christmas Market. There were dozens of food stalls, lit up by Christmas lights and surrounded by many people.

Sakamoto looked down at her and grinned. "Take your pick."

Momoko didn't know where to start. There were so many choices… "Oh, wow. Where do I even begin?"

He chuckled. "Eenie meenie miney mo?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

He shrugged. "Try me."

She smirked. "Alright then." Closing her eyes, she then said, "Spin me."

"How do you know I won't cheat?"

"Well, I will now that you've told me."

"Rats. And here I was planning on taking over the world," he joked. "Where will my diabolical plans fall now?"

He stepped behind her and held her by the shoulders before gently spinning her around on the spot. Finally he stopped.

"Okay, point your finger."

She did.

"And open your eyes."

She saw her hand pointing to a Indian cuisine stall. "Good choice, m'lady," he said, offering her his arm. She snorted but took his arm anyway as he led her to the stall.

There were so many choices, but in the end the two decided going greasy was probably the only way they would be full. And so they settled on doner kebab, which wasn't necessarily an Indian source, but really a food of Turkish variety but seemed to be very popular within Desi countries.

"Geez, I'm going to be fat," she muttered, eyeing the oil dripping from the meat.

He laughed. "I'm sure one bite won't kill you."

"And if it does, I'll sue you and use your money to get myself a liposuction surgery."

He made a face. "Ew. That's disgusting. I still remember that video we were shown in Biology."

"You mean the one where the doctors stuck a tube in the woman's thighs and all the fat gushed out?"

"Please stop. I'm trying to eat."

She snickered. "Then maybe you should cut down on fast food."

"What do you mean? I hardly ever eat fast food! This is only one time…"

"Are you suggesting that I'm a bad influence? Or are you just a very bad liar?"

"Why, the former, of course," he said with a grin.

She took a bite and then noticed how his grin faded. She followed his gaze and turned around to see Kaoru and Miyako a little further behind her.

Miyako caught her stare and then shook her head, mouthing the words, "It's okay."

Momoko cleared her throat and turned back to Sakamoto. "Um, my friends are probably waiting for me. I gotta go."

He gave a small smile and said, "Yeah, sure. That's okay. I'll see you some other time."

Momoko waved at him and walked towards her friends.

"Momoko!" cried Miyako. "You didn't have to leave him! I told you it was okay! We were just looking for you, that's all."

"Who is that guy, anyway?" asked Kaoru, leaning against the gates.

Momoko shook her head. "Just a guy I know from school."

"You really didn't have to leave him for us," said Miyako. "God knows how much you need to get out there and get a boyfriend."

"Well, maybe she's happy being single," commented Kaoru.

Momoko shook her head. "We're just friends. Nothing else. Now, come on. It's getting late and I need to go home."

* * *

**—•— Sunday, 8 December (9:08am) —•—**

* * *

Momoko was puzzled to find a small brown box on the kitchen counter when she came down to eat breakfast in the morning. She glanced at Kuriko who was silently eating cereal.

"What is this?" asked Momoko.

Kuriko didn't answer.

_She still hates me for ruining her birthday…_ Momoko sighed and looked for her father who was sitting in the living room, reading the newspaper.

"Hey, dad. Do you know what this is?" she asked, holding up the small box.

He glanced up. "Oh, yes. That came in the mail this morning. It was addressed to you. No sender though."

Momoko felt a chill in the air. _Who's sending me these?_

She quietly thanked her dad and went back to the kitchen where Kuriko was now washing up the cereal bowl. Opening up the box, she wasn't surprised to find another pocket watch.

Momoko lifted it up by the chain, letting the pocket watch swing from side to side like a pendulum. The watch spun around slowly, and Momoko noticed that there was something inscribed on the back. Brushing her fingers over it gently, she recognised the Greek lettering. It was a longer message than last time. She would need Sakamoto to translate it again.

She flicked back to the cover which looked exactly like the last pocket watch. Flipping it open, she noticed a difference. Where the last pocket watch had went from ten to one-hundred-and-twenty. This went from twenty to two-hundred-and-forty. And the hand was moving anti-clockwise again.

What on earth was that supposed to mean?


	4. Part IV

**•«Phoenix»•**

* * *

_"What happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events."_

_~ J.B. Priestley, An Inspector Calls_

* * *

******«**PART IV»

* * *

**—•— Friday, 13 December (11:57pm) —•—**

* * *

It was a dark and silent night. The waning crescent of the moon shone an eerie silver glow over the ruins of the empty town, reflecting off the cracked windows and shards of glass. Trees lay bare and still — there wasn't a single breeze, despite being the start of winter. But it was cold. _Very_ cold.

"This place gives me the creeps," muttered Kaoru as she stepped out of the car.

"I second that," said Miyako, joining her.

Momoko put the keys into her coat pocket and got out of the car too, looking around.

Kaoru was right. There was something incredibly off about this place. It had taken them two hours to find their way here without a map. Why? Because, in official standards, this town didn't even exist. Sure, civilisation might have been booming here a few decades ago. But now, there was no sign of life. It seemed that even animals strayed far away from it and trees simply stood in the monotonous silence.

"Does this town even have a name?" wondered Momoko.

Kaoru snorted. "Yeah. Spookesville. If you want to find a ghost. This is the place."

Miyako punched her in the arm. "Don't say things like that."

"It was a joke, Miyako. Geez."

"Guys, need I remind you why we're here?" said Momoko, interrupting her two friends.

"Black aura. Bad stuff. Here to investigate," answered Kaoru while casually flicking off a speck of dirt from her shoulder.

"Professor said Peach detected something from around here. We need to be on the look out."

"It's a good thing it's a Friday night. I don't think this would be suitable for a school night," said Miyako.

"Has anyone else noticed that tonight is the thirteenth? And it's also a Friday?" added Kaoru, stepping away from Miyako just in time before she hit her again.

"Kaoru, could you keep your observations to yourself?"

"You know, they say that Friday the thirteenth means bad luck."

"Stop saying things like that!" cried Miyako.

"Legend has it that, a few hundred years ago, Britain wanted to prove to the sailors that setting sail on Friday the thirteenth wasn't unlucky. So they commissioned a ship by the name 'H.M.S. Friday' and set her sail on her maiden voyage on Friday the thirteenth." Kaoru gave a dramatic pause. "And was never seen or heard from again."

Miyako gaped. "That's horrible! What happened to the crew?"

Kaoru grinned. "It's not true."

There was silence.

"I really hope you walk under a ladder," muttered Miyako under her breath, following Momoko.

Kaoru gave a snort of laughter and Momoko shook her head, unable to hide the amused smile on her face. "You're so cruel."

Kaoru shrugged. "It's an interesting story."

"Not a story that we needed to hear when we're in an abandoned town with no civilisation in the dead of night while there is a supposed black aura here," said Miyako.

Momoko and Kaoru immediately sobered when they realised she was right. Civilisation here was a joke. There wasn't a single vehicle on the lone road sans Momoko's car. And the small ruined town was even void of lights. If the sky hadn't been so clear as tonight, the moon wouldn't have been able to provide them with enough illumination.

"Where should we start?" asked Miyako, turning to look at Momoko.

"First thing's first. Let's do a check. Have we all got our torches?"

"Yup," answered Kaoru, pulling out her small black torch light from the loop of her belt, flicking it on and off.

"Good. We're going to have to go through every single one of these buildings."

There was a pause.

"You're joking, right?" said Kaoru, clearly not amused as she scanned around, looking at the many abandoned buildings in the town.

"No, Kaoru. I'm not."

"You know this is going to keep us up all night. Right?"

Momoko sighed. "We'll have to split up then."

Miyako's eyes widened. "What? No! That's a bad idea!"

"Do you see any other way to check all these buildings?"

"…no."

"Precisely. And, besides, we have our phones."

Surprisingly, despite this town not having any social contact, it still managed to maintain a healthy phone signal. Momoko was impressed. But it also led to the possibility that there could actually be someone in this town who used this signal.

Someone with a black aura.

"Why couldn't we have done this in broad daylight?" asked Miyako.

"Danger waits for no one," replied Kaoru, giving a mock salute.

"If there's any danger here in the first place," added Momoko.

"The only danger I can see is not finding a vending machine. Geez, I'm thirsty."

"I told you that I had a bottle of water in my car. But did you take it? No. So no whining from you."

Kaoru scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'll start with this apartment block," she said, jabbing her thumb beside her to indicate the medium-sized building. It wasn't a fancy modern apartment block, more like an old-fashioned inn.

Momoko nodded. "Any favourite haunts you'd like to visit, Miyako?"

Miyako sighed. "Please don't use the word 'haunt'."

Momoko grinned apologetically. "My bad. I mean any building you find particularly interesting enough to warrant a check-up?"

"None. But I don't have much of a choice, do I? So I guess I'll start with this tiny house. Nothing bad can happen in that, can it?"

"Don't jinx it," warned Momoko jokingly.

Miyako huffed. "You and Kaoru are just begging to have seven years of nothing but bad luck."

Momoko chuckled as Miyako grudgingly walked off. Then she realised that she was finally alone.

"Better get started," she muttered, taking out her torch in one hand.

The first building she arrived in front of was an old two-storey Victorian-styled house. An unusual sight here in Japan. But then again, this whole town was unusual. Japan had a history of strange places loitering in what could've been a scenic destination. The thin rectangular windows were boarded up with wood covered in moss. As though keeping something out.

_Or keeping something in._

She realised why she felt a sense of déjà vu. This house reminded her of Mojo Jojo's house. The one she had visited a few weeks ago. Even the door of this house looked as though one tap could lead it to break into pieces, just like his. The main difference was that this house didn't have a gaping hole in the middle of its roof.

She hesitantly pushed against the door which gave away with a tortured squeal of a creak. She flicked on her torch and shone it in front of her. The torch light was dim, but it was clear to see that the house was empty, consisting of nothing but debris. The dangling cobwebs and thick layers of dust gave Momoko a good opinion that no one had ever been in here.

Still. It was always a good idea to check.

She stepped inside the house, the floorboards groaning under her weight. There was a stale smell of rotting timbre, she noticed. No, it was clear that no one had been in here. If anyone had, it would've been obvious as her footsteps were creating imprints in the dust on the floor. Surely there would've been other footprints here too.

She shone the torch light around a bit and up at the ceiling, confirming her theory before she turned around to face the door. That was when she noticed it. Beside the door was a photo frame hung on the wall. She hadn't noticed it when she came in as she wasn't looking in that direction. But it was impossible to miss now.

She could have disregarded it. She _would have_ disregarded it. Only if it hadn't been for two peculiar reasons.

It wasn't coated in dust like the rest of the house. Furthermore, it looked well reserved. When she moved closer, she recognised the picture. It wasn't a photo. It was a drawing. A drawing she'd seen in Mojo's house a few weeks ago. In fact, it was the very same one.

Her eyes widened and she heard a sound from behind her. She quickly spun around.

But there was nothing.

She watched carefully for any sign of movement, already on guard, her fingers tightening around the torch light.

Nothing.

A few more seconds and she felt her heart racing, sweat building up on the surface of her neck. The fine hairs on her arm prickled and she tensed.

Silence.

Warily, she glanced behind her quickly before rushing out of the house, glad she'd left the front door open. She took out her phone and immediately called her best friends, telling them to abandon the investigation and to head back to the car with no explanations.

After hanging up, she dashed to her car and sat in the driver's seat, trying to get a hold of herself.

There had been something in that house. Something…

_Something not natural._

She rubbed her arms and turned the heater on, waiting for her friends to come back.

_What _was_ that?_

Momoko put her hands into her coat pockets, wanting nothing but warmth. But she felt something cold touch her fingers. Pulling it out, she recognised the pocket watch.

She'd forgotten all about it.

She opened it up, and wasn't surprised to see that the hand was now no longer pointing at two-hundred-and-forty, but rather just about fifty. So many hours had passed. She wondered what would happen when the hand reached zero.

What had happened last time?

The last pocket watch had reached zero after the murder of that woman in the garden…

Momoko's eyes widened.

Did the pocket watch count down to the murders?

* * *

**—•— Sunday, 15 December (8:00am) —•—**

* * *

Momoko searched for the alarm clock using her hand. She finally managed to press the snooze button. Groaning under the covers, she pulled away the duvet and looked at the time.

Why had she set an alarm clock for Sunday?

The events of Friday night came rushing back and she remembered why.

Her head was spinning. She had already been tired enough during this week. But Friday night's investigation had caused her to come home late and resulted in her falling asleep even later, making her drowsy. And then she had to go to work yesterday…

But she had something important to do now.

She got up and dressed herself before heading downstairs and letting her parents know that she was going to be out for a while.

There were no prompts for an explanation. She knew that her parents cared, she really did. But sometimes it felt as though they were ever so unconcerned about her until it was almost too late.

She sighed as she got into the driver's seat of her car and turned on the engine.

No, she had a job to focus on. She'd made sure she was getting up early as so not to run into her two friends. There were too many questions she didn't want to answer.

…and some questions she didn't even know the answer to.

It was already bad enough that she had mysteriously called off the investigation on Friday. Miyako was glad. Kaoru hadn't enjoyed searching through abandoned buildings in the dark either, but she seemed very suspicious on the ride back home that night. Luckily, she chose not to comment.

Momoko was glad. This wasn't the time for her to give answers.

She cut off the engine when she reached her destination. The house looked the same as it had been a few weeks ago. But she just had to make sure.

Getting out of the car, she walked up to the battered front door and knocked. The door opened.

Mojo Jojo blinked. "Oh. It's you again. What do you want?"

"I need to ask you a few questions."

He sighed. "Again? I told you, kid. I'm not part of this murder mystery thing. So scram."

"It's important. Please."

He looked at her for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and opening the door. "Better make it quick," he grumbled.

He turned on the lights and, this time, they were brighter than before and… Wow. His house really _was_ a mess. At least now she could see where she was going. But she also noticed that the drawing that she had tripped over last time was nowhere to be seen. Then again, he could've just as easily placed it somewhere else. It was difficult to find any significant order in this house.

He sat down on the sofa and Momoko stood standing. "What do you want?"

"We might have found something that gives us reason to be suspicious of you."

He looked surprised for a moment before he narrowed his eyes. "I told you before and I'll tell you again, I haven't done anything."

"That drawing. Where is it?" she asked, folding her arms.

"What drawing?" he answered back, his voice gruff.

They both knew he was lying.

"I'll be out of here quicker if you answer my questions honestly," said Momoko. "Now, I'm asking you again: where is that drawing that I saw the other day I came here? I know you know what I'm talking about so don't even try it."

Mojo watched her carefully for a moment before muttering, "I don't know."

"Come again?"

"It's been missing for quite a few days now."

She looked surprised. "Missing?"

"I think about Friday. Not this Friday, but the Friday before that. The drawing went missing on Friday. One minute it was there, and after I came back in the living room from eating dinner in the kitchen, the drawing was gone. I looked for it, of course. But it's definitely gone." Then he looked at her suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

She avoided answering the question by casually asking, "What time did you have dinner?"

"I don't keep track…"

"Well, when do you _think_ you had dinner?"

"I don't know. Five? Six?"

"Wonderful. Well, that's all I needed to speak to you about. Goodbye."

She gave a lazy wave and led herself out the house, ignoring his questions about why she asked about the drawing. She went back into her car and started the engine before pulling away from the curb.

As she drove, she wondered about the drawing and how it mysteriously vanished from Mojo's house and somehow managed to end up in an abandoned house in a ghost town.

Ghost town was right. That place was scary.

As she drove past an accessories store, she suddenly remembered that she needed a new red ribbon to tie up into a bow in her hair. After the last one went missing…

She stopped the car.

Her red ribbon had gone missing, hadn't it? And now Mojo's drawing had gone missing too. And yet, they were both found. Her ribbon was found around the murdered victim's neck, and Mojo's drawing was found hung on a wall in a ghost town house.

There had to be a connection. Eerie things like that didn't just happen. They happened for a reason. A reason Momoko still had yet to figure out.

She got out of the car and quickly nipped into the accessories store and selected one of the ribbons on display. A scarlet red one. She then returned to her car and began to drive again.

Hadn't she been asleep that evening when her ribbon suddenly went missing? Yes, the murder had occurred somewhere at six as the police had reported. She probably fell asleep at five… Yes, the murderer would have had plenty of chance to enter into her bedroom and then take her ribbon.

_Without even leaving a trace…_

She tried not to look behind her out of fear as she drove down a familiar street.

She would have trouble sleeping tonight.

Then another thought occurred to her. Mojo had mentioned that he had dinner at five or six that evening. And if what he said was true, he didn't witness his drawing disappear. He only realised after. That meant that the drawing disappeared somewhere in between five and six.

It was most likely around the same time when her ribbon went missing and the murder was committed.

_This _cannot_ be a coincidence._

Did this mean that the recent murders and the black aura, that had recently been detected, were all connected?

Momoko stopped the car and entered her house before heading up the stairs into her bedroom, closing the door.

_Geez. This is going to give me a headache._ She rubbed her temples. _I can't keep up with all this._

Taking out the red ribbon, she untied it from the packaging and placed it on her dressing table. Then she finally sighed and decided to get a start on that homework she'd been putting off from Monday. It would do no good to waste time thinking about these recent findings if she didn't keep up with her own work either.

She had only placed one foot forward when, suddenly, she stumbled, her head spinning.

"What the…"

She tried to place her hands on the wall to steady herself. But another dizzying lurch and…

Darkness.

* * *

**—•— Monday, 16 December (1:56am) —•—**

* * *

The woman peered down over the edge of the building, her arms and legs shaking.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she whispered.

"Just helping you out," said the voice, unusually cheery considering the current circumstances.

"I-I don't want this."

"Hm, well, you know what they say. Be careful what you wish for."

Warm hands held her own cold ones and tied them behind her back with a bristly rope. Her teeth chattered, and not just from the cold. Vehicles sped down the motorway below, oblivious to the danger from up above.

"Please," she begged. "Don't do this."

"You know, it's funny. This is exactly what you always wanted."

"I don't want this anymore! Please, stop!"

"Some suicide, huh?" A chuckle. "Well, all you need is a bit of encouragement. So allow me to help."

She felt cool metal touch her left shoulder blade and she shivered, her eyes wide. "Wh-what are you going to do to me?"

The voice was right next to her ear, amused. "Are you sure you want the answer to that?"

Then she screamed.

* * *

**—•— Monday, 16 December (9:43am) —•—**

* * *

Momoko was never normally so late. Sure, there were the odd few times where she ran past registration but she always made it within the first five minutes of her first period class.

But today? She was _definitely_ late.

She was slightly angry at the fact that her parents hadn't woken her up.

And why was she so late? How did she even manage to fall asleep on her floor yesterday? And how did she even _sleep_ through the day until _this late_ in the morning?

Perhaps she _was_ losing sleep. She should've taken everybody's warnings more seriously…

Not to mention how she had spent half the morning trying to find where her new red ribbon had gone. She probably put it in a drawer yesterday, but she didn't have time to search. So, instead, she'd tied her hair with a normal hair bobble.

And now here she was, at the front desk in the classroom, being scrutinised by her teacher. Momoko had a good reputation in school. She handed in her homeworks, never got detention, and generally was a good person all-in-all. So it was no wonder that the teacher was pondering on why the hell she was so tardy today.

Finally, the bell rang and signalled the end of class, and it also gave her the chance to move away from her teacher's wary gaze. Momoko had a free period next, a time where she usually spent in the library either with her fellow food-enthusiasts or doing a few homeworks and studying.

But she had to see Sakamoto. She hoped he had a free period now too and wasn't in class.

Heading out of the classroom, she trailed her fingers across the pocket watch in her pocket. Then her hands found the small strip of paper with Sakamoto's phone number on it. She lingered around her locker and sent him a quick text.

'_Hey. It's Momoko. Where are you?'_

The reply came a few seconds later. _'Got free period in library. Why?'_

This luck made up for her school attendance this morning. _'Need to talk. Be right over.'_

She put her phone back into her pocket and headed to the library. When she reached there, she quickly signed her name down on the sign-in sheet and found Sakamoto sitting at a table near the computers with a friend. He saw her come in and smiled, waving her over.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Not a good start today. Came in late this morning."

"Ouch. That's going to hurt your school record."

The corner of her lips quirked and she said, "Actually, do you think you could spare a moment?"

"Why?"

"Another Greek translation from the master."

He chuckled. "Well, I'll see what I can do. But last time was just pure luck."

Momoko handed over the pocket watch to him, showing the Greek writing on the back.

"Where do you get these things?" he commented.

She shrugged. "Just out and about."

"Hm… Well, let's see…" He tugged a piece of paper from his pocket and began to translate the message. A minute later, and he was done. "You seem to be interested in strange things, Momoko."

He passed the paper to her and she read the translation he had written.

_'Angels are still bright even though Lucifer, the brightest angel, fell from heaven.'_

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. What was that supposed to even _mean?_

She stole a quick glance at her watch. She had half an hour of free time before her next class. And she was in a library. She would need to make good use of this time.

She thanked Sakamoto and then quietly sat down at the computer, logging into her school account before opening up Google. Her fingers were poised above the keyboard.

_Now what do I write?_

She finally copied the translation into the search box and hit 'enter'. A variety of results popped up in under a second, but what she found that each and everyone of them had in common was the word 'Macbeth' and 'Shakespeare'.

_Shakespeare._ Hadn't the last quote the murderer left been from one of Shakespeare's plays?

No, this certainly wasn't a coincidence, she was sure. It was obvious now that the murderer was sending her these pocket watches. But why?

Remembering the pocket watch, she lifted it out of her pocket and looked at it. Then she opened the cover to see what time it was on, and was shocked to find that the hand was already on zero. The countdown was over. The clock had stopped ticking and the gears at the back were no longer moving. It was silent.

She suddenly remembered her theory on whether the pocket watch counted down to the murders.

She hoped not. Because if they did, then that meant that the zero on the pocket watch indicated—

A vibration from her phone cut off her thoughts. She checked it. There was a message from Kaoru.

_'Emergency. Get out of class. There's been another murder.'_

Momoko's eye widened. _Crap._

* * *

**—•— Monday, 16 December (10:42am) —•—**

* * *

A yellow crime scene tape barred the public from the scene. Police cars and ambulances were gathered around and Momoko and Kaoru immediately knew it would be impossible to do any investigating where the authority was involved.

"What the hell do we do now?" said Kaoru, folding her arms.

Momoko sighed. "Maybe call the Professor, I guess. He could try and talk to the mayor and—" She stopped when she spotted the forensics team stepping out of a white van beside a police car. "Actually, I think I have a better idea."

She grabbed Kaoru's hand and dragged her over to the van and waited until the forensics team had left before quickly sneaking in through the back.

"Wow. They should have better security here," commented Kaoru.

"Focus. Do you see any uniforms?"

"You mean these?" Kaoru lifted up a set of white overalls that the forensics normally wore.

"Yes. Quickly. Put one on before they come back."

Momoko took one of the overalls from Kaoru and immediately tugged it over her legs and put her arms through before zipping it up at the front. Just at that moment, one of the forensics came back, a camera in his hand.

He looked at them. "Who the heck are you two?"

Momoko and Kaoru still hadn't managed to put on their masks or white caps, so it was easy to tell that they were much younger than the other forensics at the crime scene.

"We're part of the back-up," said Kaoru.

"We didn't ask for back-up," replied the forensic, watching her warily. "Must have been a mistake."

"Can't trust people these days, can you?"

There was a moment of silence before the forensic sighed and shook his head. "I don't have time for this. Here, just take the camera and get some photographic evidence. I'll be letting the police know you're here. What are your names?"

Momoko ended up writing false names onto a piece of paper before handing it back to the forensic. He slapped the camera into her hand and gave her specific directions in where to take the pictures and which angles the detectives would want. She nodded mindlessly before gesturing Kaoru to come with her as they both stepped out of the van.

"Is it just me or do you feel like we're both breaking the law by impersonating forensics? I mean, it has to be there somewhere on the crime legislation, right?" asked Kaoru.

"I hope not," replied Momoko. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life behind bars. I'm already in enough trouble as it is."

Handing the camera over to Kaoru for a moment, she wrapped her long hair around into a bun before fitting the white cap over her hair. Then she snapped on the surgeon's mask over her mouth and slipped on the white gloves over her hands. Momoko took the camera back as Kaoru did the same.

"Though you have to admit, it's different. I mean, how many seventeen-year-olds get to say they went undercover as forensics to a crime scene?"

Momoko raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure your bad lying doesn't count as being 'undercover'."

"Well, he sort of believed it, didn't he?"

They both approached the yellow tape and the police officers let them through after seeing their forensic overalls. The walked forward until they found other forensics grouped and hunched over on the ground, obviously paying a great deal of attention.

"Hey, fellow forensics," said Kaoru with a mock salute. "We're here to take some photographic evidence, if you don't mind."

Some of the forensics squinted at her but shrugged and then moved away to let Momoko and Kaoru into the circle.

There, the front facing the ground, lay a woman's body splayed on dark drying blood. What Momoko found curious was that something had been carved into the woman's shoulder blades.

"Angel wings?" asked Kaoru, frowning.

"It was first determined suicide," said one of the forensics. "She fell from the top of this building." He pointed to the building beside them and they looked up. "But through some investigation, we found that her hands were tied before she fell and she would need leverage to get onto the edge of the roof anyway. And we have other evidence to suggest it was homicide."

Momoko glanced at the ropes that were tied around the woman's hands tightly. "Such as?"

The forensic nodded to the woman's hair. "Auburn and long. Just like the other recent murders."

"So you're assuming this is the same murderer as recently?"

"We still need to do more investigation before we can confirm this. But, for now, this seems to be the most rational theory."

Momoko turned on the camera and began to take pictures. Kaoru raised an eyebrow at the forensic. "Any idea why the angel wings?"

He shrugged. "Some twisted euphemism to a fallen angel is my guess. But we haven't even made any progress with the other murders, so it's difficult to tell if there's some kind of message behind it or if the murderer is just doing this for his sick kicks."

Momoko froze. Fallen angel? The translation that Sakamoto had given her…

_'Angels are still bright even though Lucifer, the brightest angel, fell from heaven.'_

Fallen angel…

The message had something to do with the murder, there was no doubt. But why? What did the murderer think she was going to do with this piece of information? Hand it to the police? Of course she wouldn't. And why her? She didn't have any relevance to these murders at all.

"We also found something else," said the forensic, lifting out a small box. "This was tied around the victim's neck."

He held up a red ribbon.

No. He held up _Momoko's_ red ribbon. The one she'd only bought yesterday and couldn't find this morning.

Kaoru seemed to recognise the significance of the ribbon too as she stole a quick glance at her.

Momoko knew it wouldn't be so easy to get out of this one.

* * *

**—•— Monday, 16 December (12:47pm) —•—**

* * *

The detective studied the young woman in front of him with a frown. He tapped his pen against the clipboard, trying to make sense of the paperwork he held. After a moment, he finally spoke.

"Momoko Akatsusumi. Seventeen, you said?"

"Yes."

"I had a look through your history and I've found you have no criminal records. Your academic record is spotless from any obvious misdemeanour, and yet I have to wonder why you're here where you are right now." He paused and then continued, "Ms. Akatsusumi, I'm a homicide detective. My current case is dictated by these recent murders — the 'Red Massacre' as it's informally being called by the journalists. Just two weeks ago, we struck important evidence. Evidence that we thought would finally put a close to these horrendous crimes and put the perpetrator behind bars. Then, under short-term research, we found that the evidence belonged to you."

Momoko wasn't quite sure what to say. It wasn't as if she'd ever thought she would end up in this position — in the police station being questioned by a homicide detective in a dark room because she was now a leading suspect.

Wait, no. Correction: the _only_ suspect.

And that fact just made the situation ten times worse.

"Back then, we all found it strange. A perfect, well-rounded seventeen-year-old student to commit a crime? Unusual. But it wasn't impossible. More heinous crimes have been committed in the past by eight-year-olds who still couldn't tie shoe laces but were able to pick up a knife and wield it as a dangerous weapon."

He had been pacing around the room when he had been talking, but now he stopped and watched her carefully as he continued.

"We didn't have any secure evidence at the time when we found that red ribbon two weeks ago. Your friend also vouched for your innocence. You had a good alibi. You could just as well as have been framed. And even now, we still don't have enough evidence to confirm whether or not you're guilty. But now, after today's evidence of yet another red ribbon — yours, I believe — we can't possibly rule out the strong suspicion that you may very well be involved in these murders."

He stood in front of her and she tensed.

"Now, Ms. Akatsusumi, the last thing I want is for an innocent to be wrongly blamed. And I know they say that intuition where science is involved is never a good thing, but I have a hunch about you. I would like to think you are innocent, and that this is all just a grave mistake that you've become tangled up in. Such a mess, I can do my very best in trying to help you to get out of. But if I find any solid reason to believe that you may be a danger to society, I _will_ take action, believe me. I have my duty to do, Ms. Akatsusumi. I hope you realise that. So take this as a warning."

She was involved with the police. The _police._

She wasn't quite sure what time it was because they'd asked her to remove her watch along with her phone and other belongings before she entered the interview room. Not to mention that the room didn't have any windows. Only a lone lightbulb swung gently back and forth from the ceiling, despite the stillness of the room.

But even so, Momoko knew she'd probably missed about two or three classes in school now. Kaoru said she'd cover for her, but Momoko wasn't exactly sure that even Kaoru could convince the teachers that she was at the toilets.

Two hours could be a very long time.

Long enough to detect a lie.

And then she had to wonder if Kaoru had to tell the truth by now. What would she say? That her friend was being questioned by the authority due to being under the suspicion of the Red Massacre?

Momoko knew she would be in a lot of trouble.

Not just with the school, but also with her parents. No doubt that the school would inform her parents that she was nowhere to be found.

And she was already in enough trouble with the police as it was…

Rebellious teenagers got in trouble with the law for drunk-driving and smoking pot.

She wasn't even a rebel, and yet here she was, being questioned under the suspicion of being a _serial killer._

"Now, Ms. Akatsusumi," said the detective as he sat down on the swivel chair with a notepad in his hands. "I would like to ask you some questions, with your full co-operation. This is completely procedure, I hope you understand."

She nodded slowly, but her mouth felt dry.

No, she wasn't just going to be in trouble. She was fucking _screwed._

* * *

**To:** _Momoko Akatsustumi_

**From:** _Miyako Gotokuji_

**Date/Time: **_16/12/13; 3:24pm_

**Subject:** _No Subject_

Hi, Momoko.

How did the interview go? I hope it wasn't too bad. Kaoru and I tried to come up with an excuse in school, but you were taking too long to come back. So Kaoru told them that you were ditching...

...and they kind of gave you a three-Friday detention set.

Just wanted to let you know so you don't freak out when your parents tell you about it. But hey, at least it's better than telling the school you were being questioned by the police. I'm sure your parents would've had something to say about that!

Anyways, I hope this hype wears off soon. And I wouldn't worry too much, if I were you. You're innocent, so you'll be off the hook soon.

Talk to you in school tomorrow. Bye!

Miyako xxx

* * *

**—•— Monday, 16 December (9:12pm) —•—**

* * *

Momoko sighed. Her parents had already given her a long lecture when she came back from working at the sweet shop. Something about responsibility and almost being an adult. Kuriko had enjoyed watching her older sister get in trouble.

And now Momoko was sentenced with four weeks of being grounded for 'ditching school'.

Which was funny because it had been years since she'd been grounded. Which only made her parents even more suspicious of why she suddenly decided to skip school. They knew it simply wasn't like her to do something so…unnecessarily drastic.

Her phone rang and she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Momoko," said Kaoru. "How did it go?"

Momoko sighed again. "It was tense. The forensics took some of my fingerprints to see if they can find any matches during the autopsy. The police are already running an investigation revolving around me, so I'll be hanging around with the cops for a little while longer."

Kaoru gave a long whistle. "Wow. That sucks. Did you tell your parents about it?"

"Of course not! They'd have me locked in my bedroom out of fear."

"So what did you tell them?"

"I didn't have to tell them anything. Your excuse made the school call my parents today," said Momoko pointedly.

Kaoru tutted. "Don't be so _ungrateful_. I only had a quarter of a second to come up with a cover story. I already had a difficult enough time trying to convince the teachers that goody-two-shoes-Momoko had ditched class."

Momoko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well now my parents have agreed to grounding me for four weeks."

"Shit, four weeks? Seems a bit extreme."

"Well, if you covered for me properly—"

"Hey! It wasn't a complete lie, either! It was half-true. You _did_ ditch class to visit the crime scene."

Momoko ran her fingers through her hair. "It doesn't matter either way. I'm more concerned in what the verdict for my innocence in this investigation will be."

There was silence for a moment and Momoko thought that perhaps Kaoru had hung up.

"Kaoru?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Why so quiet?"

Kaoru's tone was a little more serious now. "Momoko, I need to talk to you tomorrow. In private. It's important."

Momoko wondered what could be so important that Kaoru would want to see her confidentially. "I'm grounded, remember?"

"Would your parents mind if I came to your house for a quick moment after school tomorrow?"

"No, I don't think so. If we tell them it's a school project or something, I'm sure they'll back off…"

"Alright. But you can't tell anybody about this. Understand?"

Momoko nodded to herself. "Got it." She paused as she checked the number on her phone. "Wait a minute… Kaoru! Are you reverse calling me?"

"…maybe."

"Kaoru! I don't want to have to pay for your phone bills!"

"And that's my cue to leave." Kaoru immediately hung up.

Momoko set the phone down on her desk, shaking her head in amusement, but her anxiety returned when she warily eyed the pocket watch beside her laptop. The bedroom was quiet, and as she turned off the lights and stood in the still darkness, she realised this was the first time she'd found a bit of peace and quiet in weeks.

Shame it would only last for so long.

* * *

**AN: I'm afraid I'll have to end this chapter here. But not to worry! The next chapter will shed some more light on the murders and quite an interesting revelation. Other than that, I can't say much.**

**Also, I'm away on holiday to visit some family next week until the middle of August, so I most likely won't have Internet (depending on how nice my cousins are to me). So I will be absent from FF during that time. But when I come back, I shall pour love into your wonderful reviews! I appreciate each and every one of them. Thank you! 8D**


End file.
